Leave Out All The Rest
by Daba91
Summary: Edward thought that there was nothing left in the world that could surprise him. He lived a life met with crime, danger, and obligation, and never sought to change it. Then, he met a beautiful brown eyed girl named Bella and his world changed. E/B AH
1. Prologue

**_Okay, this is my new story. I hope you enjoy it._**

**_I've made some minor changes. Details are on my Twitter account, the links on my profile._**

**_Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Twilight, But I Do Own This Plot_**

**_The Linkin Park song – Leave Out All The Rest, inspired this story; if you haven't heard it, you should, it's a good one._**

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Prologue

**Bella's P.O.V.**

The gunshot tore through the meadow and I swear it sounded like thunder to my ears as I was pulled forcefully to the ground. The sharp ringing in my ears faded out and I looked up into the emerald green eyes that I had grown to love. The eyes of my Edward, my dark knight, my protector, and my very own heaven and hell all rolled into one.

"Are you okay?" He asked demandingly but something in his voice was off.

"I think so," I offered weakly, the shock, apparent in my voice. "Are you?"

He offered me a weak smile before shaking his head slowly. "Not so much, love."

"What…" I started worriedly before he shifted his weight off of me and onto his side and my eyes landed on the thick dark red liquid the was seeping through his chest in the place where the bullet had pierced it. I gasped at the sight before tears began to sting my eyes and I grew panicked. "Edward… Edward no, what, do I do, what do I do?"

"Run," He ordered. "Run as far as you can, as fast as you can and don't look back.

"No," I argued weakly. "I wont leave you, I can't."

"You have to." He shot back, his breathing becoming ragged.

I shook my head in defiance, not trusting my voice to be strong enough to argue as I placed my hands on his chest to apply pressure to the wound. He had already lost a lot of blood and I didn't know how much good it would do but I had to try. I couldn't lose him, not after everything we had been through together.

"Bella please?" He begged and I'd never seen him so weak, which brought on a whole new wave of tears.

"No," A sob tore through me and I couldn't even recognize my own voice.

"Why… must you be so stubborn?" He chocked out.

I shrugged lightly. "Call it a character flaw."

He shook his head violently and sent me a hard glare. "Damn it Bella, this isn't a joke, he's going to kill you if you don't run and I can't stand for anything to happen to you. Not you."

"I don't care what happens to me." I said honestly.

"I do." His glare was replaced with a look of sadness, a look of innocence that no one but me would ever imagine to see on Edward Cullen's face. To the others, he was the man without fear, the man driven by hatred, the man that if necessary would kill a man in cold blood without so much as blinking, the man with a mission. Yet at that moment all I could see was a man afraid, a man that feared for my life and would die to save me, a man that loved me but was afraid to say it, a man was slipping away from me.

"Why?" I asked, needing to hear those words if they would be the last I ever heard.

"Bella I…" He started but I cut him off.

"No," I argued. "If this is going to be our last moment together I need to hear you say it… you've told me it's there but I need to hear it."

"If I tell you, will you run?" He looked almost hopeful.

"No." I answered simply.

He laughed faintly at that. "It was worth a shot… I didn't, I… I wasn't sure what it was I felt for you, at first it was just this impulse to protect you and keep you safe but after awhile it became something else. You would never do anything I expected and always proved to be a genuinely good person and I was afraid I would corrupt you. You were and are my only weakness. You. Are. My. Life. I love you Isabella Swan. If nothing else, just know that."

"I love you too." I whispered.

"I'm sorry I made you wait," He said sadly. "I thought that if I said it, it would hurt more if I ever lost you."

"You'll never lose me," Keeping my right hand pressed on his wound I gently ran my left hand through his perfect disarray of bronze hair as I brought my lips to his in a quick yet passionate kiss. "I'm your girl, always."

He smiled lightly, "I wish that I could have given you a normal life, like you deserved. That I could had just been a normal boring guy with a dog and a nine to five job that you ran into one day at a coffee shop and fell in love with like that shit you see in movies. That I could had told you that I loved you from the very beginning than just finding different ways to show you without words. I could have married you and watched as your belly grew round with our child that would be a little tiny replica of us with your eyes. I wish that we could leave out all the rest of the unimportant crap and just be people, stupid in love."

"Then for right now," I offered thoughtfully. "Let's just leave out all the rest. You're just Edward and I'm Bella, the girl whose hopelessly in love with you and would be whether you were yourself or some normal boring guy with a nine to five job."

"And a dog," He joked. "Don't forget the dog."

I laughed brokenly. "And a dog."

He was so quiet that for a moment I'd thought I lost him. "Bella?"

"Yes." I asked relieved.

"It may had taken me awhile and I probably would have done it all wrong or screwed up somehow, and hell if I didn't think about it often, but…" He looked deeply into my eyes with more love than I could comprehend. "I would have liked to had asked you to marry me."

Uncontrollable tears shed from my eyes. It was our end but in the light of it I had gotten to see him in a way I never had fully before. "I would had said yes."

"That's good to know." He almost whispered as his eyes started to close.

"Edward." I shook him lightly, getting a mild response out of him.

"I really wish you would have ran." He breathed harshly.

Shaking my head, I responded honestly. "There's no other place I'd rather be."

"Silly… stubborn… girl." His eyes began to close again and this time I shook him more forcefully.

"Edward, stay with me," I pleaded. "The others must of heard the shot and will be on their way and Carlisle can save you so you just have to hold on, hold on for me."

"It's judgment time, love," His voice was so quiet I could barely hear him. "And with my sins… it may take awhile."

"NO!" I screamed as his eyes closed lightly and his breathing became fainter. "Edward, not now, don't leave me please, don't die, I need you… please."

He didn't respond and I could feel his life slipping as his breathing became even more faint and I'd never felt so alone in my whole life.

As I was counting the number of breathes he took, along with the number of times his heart beat the sound of a twig snapping behind me reminded me that I really wasn't alone. My body involuntarily shook at the sound and without a second thought I turned to see where it had come from. As I did, my eyes came in contact with a familiar face, and not one I had ever wished to see again. His eyes were cold and dead, the eyes of a killer for sure, and that's just what he was. Taking one last glance at Edward whose breathing was almost nonexistent I stood and faced his shooter, the man that in a matter of moments would be my killer.

"I guess this is it." I stated in a defeated tone. Yet strangely enough, I didn't feel defeated. I felt strong. I had been around enough men like him since I met Edward and the others and I knew how this would play out. He would kill me, yes, but he would more than likely assume Edward was already dead, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I knew beyond doubt that the others would had heard the shot and would be coming and as long as Edward was still breathing, there was a chance that Carlisle could save him. He didn't have a medical degree for nothing.

"You'd be correct," My killer said and his voice stung my ears. "Shame though, you are one beautiful woman Bella."

"That's what all the psycho's tell me." I said feeling a strange surge of confidence.

"And verbal," He sighed and lifted the gun, holding it aimed at my chest. "I wish that I would have had more time to play with you but I really must be leaving before your friends come but don't worry… this will only hurt a little. Then you can join your lover."

I smiled lightly. He thought that Edward was already dead and there was still a chance for him to be saved. I'd never given much thought to my death. Looking back on my life since I met Edward I probably should have, it might've made things a little easier. Yet as I stood there staring into the eyes of my killer, I thought that dying in the place of someone I loved, wouldn't be that bad.

"Edward, I love you." I whispered into the air, closed my eyes and not a moment later I heard another gunshot break through the air.

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**_Okay, so I made some minor adjustments to this story. I hope it all works out. Thank you for reading._**

**_Much Luv!_**

**_Daba91_**


	2. Animal I've Become

**_Thanks so much to anyone who read the Prologue; I really hope you liked it. I want to thank anyone who added this story to their story alerts or favorites. This is the first chapter, it takes place before the events of the Prologue, and it's from Edward's point of view._**

**_Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Twilight, I just own this plot._**

**_The song for this chapter is, Three Days Grace's – Animal I've Become_**

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CH.1

**_Edward's P.O.V._**

Animal I've Become

If any random person off the street were to ask me who I was, and what I do, I would answer, "I'm Edward Anthony Cullen, I'm twenty four years old and I run Cullen Enterprises. The multimillion-dollar corporation, that deals in the production and advancement of modern medicines and the buying and selling of medical supplies. I was born and raised in Chicago and have an older brother Emmett, whom I work with and a younger sister Alice who is a student at the local University. My parents are Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Carlisle is a prominent doctor and Esme is well known through her work with various charities. I am single, because I like my freedom and am very dedicated to my work and I dream of making the world a better place." That's simple enough right?

However, the truth is a bit different. I am Edward Anthony Cullen, I am twenty-four, I do run Cullen Enterprises like my grandfather before me, I was born and raised in Chicago with my parents and two siblings, I am single, and I do dream of making the world a better place. Simple, to the point and fairly honest but most people wouldn't look to read between the lines. They wouldn't even know what to look for if they did.

They wouldn't think that one of the world's most respectable families was actually one of the most fucked up. They wouldn't know that outside of our noble acts and perfect image that we were one of the world's most feared and untouchable crime families. That in addition to buying and selling medical supplies, we bought and sold various illegal and off the market drugs, that the money we gave to charity was made off the blood of others, and that in addition to saving lives, we also took them. Yes, you heard correctly, took lives. Now, do we kill violently, yes, do we kill without mercy, yes, and do we kill without cause, never. There is always a reason, but what it ultimately comes down to is business.

When we were kids, Emmett, Alice and I used to think that we had the best lives. A loving father, whom was a doctor but had a second job that none of us talked about. An amazing mother whose maternal instincts were more natural to her than breathing. A massive family made up of aunts, uncles, and cousins that looked nothing like us. A ridiculously large mansion that was big enough to house at least a hundred people, and also made for the most fun and equally difficult games of hide and seek, and most importantly. We had each other. For the most part, we still have all of those things but now we know everything.

Our young minds couldn't process at the time that or fathers second job was actually his first and that he worked as a doctor, not only because he loved it but because it covered up his dirty dealings. Or that all of our so called, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all just people who worked for my father and our grandfather before him. Or even that all of the hunting trips we took as kids were really just our fathers' way of making sure we knew how to use firearms. Not that it wasn't fun, but it sure as shit wasn't normal for other kids under ten. It wasn't really til we were in our teens that our father came clean about the family 'Business", and I don't mean Cullen Enterprises. To say that we were shocked would be an understatement, but we learned to accept it pretty easily after our father filled us in on our family history, apparently our great grandfathers, great grandfather was the first criminal in our family and he past his legacy down upon the rest of us like an old sweater or Christmas ornament. I guess we all deal with it differently. We all accept, and understand what we do and there's never any question of that but we are all ultimately our own people with our own dreams and desires. I above all the others am no exception to that.

I'm a killer, an animal. I'm good at what I do and have never imagined doing anything else. I do however feel like something's missing. Something important and I can't shake it. Love maybe; the word alone is foreign to me. I could never imagine the feeling. I've seen it within others, the connections they share with family, friends, or some significant other, but I've never felt it personally. I care for my family and friends and would die for them but I can't love them. I guess most people would sum that up to some fear or childhood trauma but they'd be wrong. I just don't feel it. It's better that way I think, in my life, love is dangerous and could get you killed, it's a distraction.

That alone speaks for my personal life. No ties or relationships that last longer than a night of wild sex, with zero promises of something more. Not that I would know what to do with more. I could never see myself as the loving and attentive husband or the dad-playing ball with his kids in the yard. Even if I could love, my lifestyle would never allow it. There would always be some danger awaiting us, one of the many consequences of doing what I do. Luckily nobody in my family or those who work with us is easy to kill or the Volturi would have dealt with us a long time ago.

Who are the Volturi you ask? They are one of the world's biggest crime families that originated in Italy in the early 1800's. They kill for power and greed and show no compassion for humanity. About thirty years ago my grandfather killed a very well respected member of the Volturi, Marcus, and ever since we've been at war. Marcus's son Aro took over and is even more malicious than his father, smarter too. He rebuilt their organization from the inside out and ultimately modeled it after ours. Both of which are made up of families but have others working for them.

My father, Carlisle, who took over after my grandfathers' death, runs our organization. His second in command is his long time friend Eleazar who was also raised into this life. My mother Esme, my brother Emmett, my sister Alice, their significant others, Rosalie and Jasper Hale whom my parents took in after their parents died, Eleazar's daughters Tanya, Kate and Irina, his wife Carmen, and myself, all make up the central core of our organization, since we were all raised into it. Outside of us, there is Garrett, whom is one of my most loyal and trusted friends, Angela Weber, Ben Cheney, and Eric Yorkie, who make up our tech team, Mike Newton, the newbie, Nahuel, who's our weapons specialist, Zafrina, Senna, and Kachiri, three of the deadliest women alive, assassins if you will, Maggie, our very own human lie detector, Liam and Siobhan, and Charlotte, who works on keeping our 'business' out of the publics attention, and many other outsiders. Separate, we're all dangerous; together we make up a family that is not to be crossed and protect one another at all cost.

The Volturi are the exact opposite. Aro and his younger brother and second in command Caius run their organization. Their wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora, Aro's sons Felix, Demetri, and Alec, along with his daughter Jane, more formally known as evil incarnate, make up the central core of their organization. Outside of them, there is Heidi, seductress extraordinaire and assassin, sisters Chelsea, who recruits new members, and Renata, whom is Aro's personal bodyguard, James, who is one of the most vile men to ever walk the face of the earth and has tried to kill me more times than I can count, Victoria, James's plaything, Laurent, whom for whatever reason is called 'the gentleman', Riley, the puppet, and a few others that have proved to be just as vicious as the rest of them. Where our family and values bond us, they are bonded by fear and respect, while we try to keep the lives of the public communities separate and somewhat peaceful, they pollute them with their hatred and greed. To them, life is about power, who's got the most of it and who will use it. They hate us and at times I think fear us because we are the only ones standing in their way of that.

Lately I've been feeling like something big is about to happen and I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing but it's there. If I've learned anything in my life it's to follow my instincts. I don't know when and I don't know how but a change is coming, and I'm going to be ready for it. I'm ready for anything this fucked up world has to throw at me.

"Edward?" Let me revise my former statement, 'anything but my sister', Alice.

"Yes Alice?" I asked, looking up from the book I hadn't been reading due the train wreck that is, my thoughts.

"What were you thinking about just now, you looked like you were galaxy's away on your own little planet?" She asked as she took a seat at the foot of my bed, a quizzical look etched onto her pixie-like face.

"That was descriptive." I said in a dull tone.

"Yeah, yeah, talk." She ordered playfully.

"Nothing Allie," I sighed. "Just the same old shit." I didn't need to elaborate, Alice understood and with a simple nod of her head, I new she wouldn't push.

"So how was New York?" She asked lightly

"Cold." I replied with a smile.

"Usually is this time of year," She joked. "And the target?"

I shrugged, bored. "He's cold too."

"I'm sure dad would be happy to hear that." She said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," I sighed before a thought hit me. "Hey, where is he anyway, he was gone when I got in?"

"He had some business to take care of," She said, giving me a look that clearly meant, I should know better. "He always has business to take care of, but he'll be back soon, the indoctrination ceremony for the newbie is tonight and he wants us there."

"I thought Newton already had his indoctrination?" I asked confused. We'd recruited that fuck up weeks ago and Jasper had told me that the ceremony happened while I was out of town, which was a good thing considering the fact that I thought he was a joke, and still did. I don't know what the hell my father was thinking.

"Newton did," Alice laughed, furthering my confusion. "But it isn't for Newton, it's for Lehane."

She just wasn't going to make this easy for me. "Who?"

Alice looked at me and laughed; had anyone else done some shit like that, I would have killed them, but since it was Alice, it just annoyed the crap out of me. "You really don't pay attention do you?"

"I'm gone a lot Alice." I defended.

"Peter Lehane," She offered, and could obviously tell that the name was foreign to me, so she continued. "He's from a little town Northwest of here called Forks, was raised by his father after his mother bailed, worked his ass of in high school, graduated top of his class, went off to college at NYU, graduated with a degree in business, worked for a small company in the city for awhile, but moved home after his father died to look after his little sister. In short, he's smart, resourceful, needs the money, and is willing to get his hands dirty, figuratively speaking, and dad wants to place him with you and Jasper, to help out with both the family business and Cullen Enterprises while your otherwise busy with one or the other."

"Looks like dad has high hopes for this guy." Which was confusing. My father didn't trust outsiders, and wouldn't place a newbie on the front lines so quickly. There were steps to be taken, trust had to be built, those were his rules, the same rules he'd taught us all our lives.

"I haven't figured that part out myself yet." Alice was clearly on the same page as me. "It's not like him to put his trust in strangers, but for whatever reason he is. I'll tell you this, though, the others are not happy. Well except for mom and Eleazer, but Rose, Jazz, Char, and the others are livid."

"What about Em?" I asked.

"Everything is peace in Em's world." She laughed, and I found myself laughing too. There wasn't much that could bring my brother down. He was one tough son of a bitch but he lived with the mind set that everything happened for a reason and that you take what you get. I was never that optimistic, but that's what he was for. Tough as nails teddy bear, that will kick your ass then spout of some crazy, 'wax on wax off, life is about choices, let the force guide you', shit.

"I have no idea what dad's playing at, but until we know, I say we keep an eye on this guy. With everything going on and the Volturi constantly out for blood, the last thing we need is some punk trying to run one over on us." I said firmly.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Alice mused. "Peter seems like the loyal type, I think he's genuinely doing this because he has to, which makes him no different than anyone else who's joined from the outside. I just have to find a way to convince Jazz that this isn't some Volturi power play."

"Is that what he thinks?" I asked. Jasper was always one of the most logical of us. If he thought there was something to be concerned about, there may just be.

"He's just being an overprotective fool," Alice sighed. "I've been showing Peter how both business's work, which is how I got to know so much about him and Jazz is just worried for my safety."

"He loves you." I may not personally be familiar with the term, but I can tell when someone's in love, and Jasper couldn't be more obvious when it came to my sister. He's almost always with her like a shadow on a sunny day, and has a smile for her every time he sees her, which is a lot given that Jazz rarely smiles. Fucked up childhood, I wont go into it, but him and Rose have some serious issues, which is why I guess, my brother and sister are perfect for them. Nothing like a little sun on a foggy day, or whatever the fuck it was that Emmett always said.

"Yeah and I love him, but I can take care of myself." Alice said confidently, and I wasn't about to argue with her. The crazy pixie sure could handle herself. She didn't look like much, but appearances were deceiving. I should know, I taught her to fight.

"So…" I drawled. "What time is the ceremony, I might as well go since I'm here. This way I can see this guy, and try to figure out what the hell dad's up to."

"It's in a few hours." She answered quickly.

"Cool, that gives me enough time to hit the training room, and shower," I thought aloud. "Hey, is Garrett around, I need a sparring partner who's actually a decent fighter, unlike Newton."

Alice giggled. "You've made it your mission in life to hate him haven't you?"

"I wouldn't waste hate on someone as pathetic as Mike Newton," I deadpanned. "I just have no respect for him. It's a cold world we live in and people like him; they're just there to fill space. They neither help worsen or improve anything. They just coast along existing. It's wasteful, and I don't have the slightest clue as to why dad hired him."

Alice shook her head, clearly not agreeing with me. "Dad hired him to do a job, a job he does well, he may not be on the same level as you, or Jazz, or Emmett, or even Rose, but he's apart of the team. Now, as for the other stuff, I don't think it's right to judge the people who don't know what to do with themselves, it's not always as simple as helping and not helping, some people are just stuck."

I had to argue. "There is no gray area Alice, our lives don't allow uncertainty. Everything is either black or white, you have to know what you're going to do at every turn, and you have to stay ten steps ahead of everyone else. Otherwise, you get yourself and other people killed."

"God, your like the poster boy for strict living." Alice sighed, her expression was apologetic, but it was wasted on me.

"So is Garrett in the training room or not?" I was a dick by nature, I didn't generally take pleasure in being short with people who didn't deserve it, it was just who I was. For both my mothers and Alice's sake I tried to be more sociable and less temperamental when speaking to them alone, but sometimes I just couldn't help myself. They understand though, so I don't feel too bad.

"Yeah he's there. He was originally planning on sparring with Jasper, but he's getting things set up for the ceremony, so he couldn't make it. I'm sure Garrett will be glad your there. He refuses to fight with Mike too. He says that he wont be the one responsible for crippling him." Alice said, rolling her eyes. She had let my attitude slide, which was another reason why we got along so well.

"We'll leave the crippling to Rosalie." I smirked, I may have no respect for Newton, but Rose hated him, of course, Rosalie Hale hated most people. So that may not be a fair observation, but if anyone were to be the first to send Newton home crying like the bitch he is, it'd be Rose. She lived for that kind of shit.

Alice muttered something along the lines of 'Fucking Madhouse' before giving me a small smile. "Have fun with Garrett, and try not to do too much damage to the training room this time, last time you guys sparred we spent hours pulling knives out of the walls, and treating bullet wounds. I'll be in the main hall with Jasper, trying to calm him down before the ceremony."

"Hey, I told Emmett that we would be using live rounds, and the big oaf didn't listen. Doesn't matter anyway, we didn't hit anything serious and the giant's still walking." You'd need a bullet the size of a fucking bulldozer to keep that funny bastard down.

"Just the same." She gave me the eyebrow, which meant she was serious, before turning on her heal and leaving my bedroom, closing the door gently behind her.

I cared for my sister, I really did, but being back under the same roof as her was going to drive me crazier than I already was. I had my own place. Several in fact, all over the world, but this was always my home. The familiarity of it always drove me back, no matter how far away I was or how long I was gone. Years ago, before I was even born, the whole family had stayed in Chicago. That was before granddad killed Marcus, and the Volturi launched an all out attack that ended with several deaths and the old family house being burned to the ground. Granddad ultimately felt that it would be too hard to conduct business in a city, where your biggest enemy lived, so, he moved the family to Seattle, Washington, for reasons I've yet to grasp, but whatever, it was home. Even with the never-ending rain. My mother loved it though, and the mansion was far bigger than the one in Chicago, and it allowed everyone who lived in it enough space to not feel cramped. That is of course, if you didn't factor in the force that was Alice.

Standing from my bed, I walked across the room to my closet that housed more clothes than I would ever wear, and made quick work of finding a pair of sweats and a wife beater, 'cause I wasn't about to work out in jeans; that shit could kill a man. Not that I even entertained the thought of having children, but I'd still like for my shit to work the way it's supposed too. I stripped down from my jeans and t-shirt, and pulled on my sweats, slipping the wife beater on as I exited the closet and made my way towards the door that Alice had exited through minutes before. I was relieved when I stepped through my door and into the hallway and found it clear. I just wanted to get a few good punches in on a live target before the ceremony, I wasn't in the mood to stop and get pulled into some pointless conversation with someone who didn't get the hint that they weren't welcome. Call me harsh… you'd be right.

I quickened my pace a bit. I might of mentioned before that this place was huge, and at present, I was a small distance away from where the training room was, meaning if I wasn't quick, there was a chance that someone would spot me and try to strike up conversation, and if they did, I would not be held responsible for my actions. So I walked, faster, I descended the stairs at the end of the hall, cut through the library, past my fathers' office, which was at present, empty, trailed down another long hallway and then made a slight detour through the courtyard where the second entrance to the training room could be found. I wasn't spotted once. Pulling open the glass double doors, I stepped into the training room, and was quick to notice that it had been fixed up since the last time I'd been in it. The holes from the knives that were thrown were all patched up and painted over and Emmett's blood no longer stained the floor. It made for a good change. The room in itself was massive and had everything we needed to stay in top shape. Part of it was set up like a gym, with treadmills, weight benches and other crap like that. The middle of the room where I was headed was just an open space for sparring; with punching bags off to the side and various close contact weapons lining the walls. Then there was the shooting range, which was separated by another wall, soundproofed, so that it wouldn't disturb anyone. They had restored it to its former glory. It looked just as good as new and it was a shame I was about to wreck it again.

"Well look who's home." There's the son of a bitch I was looking for.

Garrett stood off to the side of the sparring mat with a grateful smile etched onto his face. I could tell he'd been bored. The punching bag he'd been using was being held together by a thread and didn't look like it could be saved. Garrett had come for a fight but was reduced to punching a leather bag full of sand.

"What, you missed me?" I asked dryly.

"Like hell," He laughed, deserting the bag as he made his way towards me. "I'm just glad I get to punch something responsive, since Jazz bailed on me."

"What with the ceremony an all." I stated.

He gave me a curious look and grinned when he found what he was looking for. "So you didn't know about the newbie?"

That was one of the things I both hated and admired about Garrett. He was too damn observant. The good thing was, was that he usually kept his observations to himself. Now was obviously not one of those times. "No."

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, the others are out for blood, but he seemed alright when I met him, maybe a little too put together but he's new to crime so… I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he does, and if it works out maybe we'll allow him to come to the bar with us. If not, well then, we'll just leave him behind with Newton."

"Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought." I noted.

"Not really." Was Garrett's simple reply; which was another reason I got along with him. He didn't talk too much.

"So, you ready to get your ass kicked?" I asked, not bothering to beat around the bush, he knew why I was here.

"If you were Jasper's crazy ass, then the answer would be yes, but since it's you I'd say we're on pretty even ground." He said in all seriousness. People feared me, and for good reason. I was dangerous. Jasper however, was crazy. Where I was all for jumping unto a fight head on, Jasper wasn't. He would if necessary, but he usually likes to surprise people. Not too many people know much about Jasper, and they know even less about his past, but I do and let's just say that if it came down to a fight to the death between him and myself I would be able to give him a good run for his money, but I probably wouldn't be the one on the winning end. Jasper was calculated, had the ability to remain calm in the middle of a fight and he could kill a man before he knew what hit him. A skill he'd perfected at the age of ten. He made for one hell of a sparring partner though, even if you knew you were getting your ass kicked, you'd get one serious work out and bragging rights, seeing as only Garrett, Emmett, Rose, and myself had ever fought him. In Alice's defense, she had tried, but he refused to fight her. Dude was whipped, which was good. I may not be able to survive hand-to-hand combat with him, but I would shoot the fucker if he ever hurt my sister.

"We'll see." I said simply.

"Let's dance Cullen." Garrett stood before me, shoulders squared, and ready. Then… the son of a bitch sucker punched me.

#####

The hard spray of the showerhead pelted against my skin and the hot water washed away the blood from my aching body. That fight was just what I'd needed, even if the training room was wrecked to hell. I felt relaxed, and slightly less irritable. Garrett had put up a good fight. It probably helped that we've known each other for years and he knew almost all of my moves, but he sure as hell didn't see that roundhouse coming, and I'd executed it perfectly. He was a champ though, after he regained consciousness he laughed it off and promised me a future rematch. We would have had it out right then and there but the ceremony was less than an hour away, which is why I had to get ready.

After scrubbing away all of the blood and sweat and allowing the water to wash it all down the drain, I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off with a towel, and walked right back to my closet to change into something slightly more presentable. Even though I've been told that me naked is a sight to behold, I don't think that my parents and the others would appreciate it. So instead, I slipped into a pair of black slacks, a navy blue button up shirt, and then threw on some dress shoes. Within moments I was ready, and out the door. I trailed down the hallway in the opposite direction of where I'd gone before, and descended a different set of stairs that led to the parlor, where the ceremony was taking place. I can't honestly say that I enjoy these ceremonies. It's just a flashy way of telling somebody that by joining us, they're signing over their lives and must abide by any an all rules and will suffer the consequences if they break them. The main one being death. I just think that it's a perfectly good waist of time. We all already know what's going to happen, as we've seen it done many times before, and after the first few times it's just boring.

I stepped into the parlor and more than half of the eyes in the room were on me. There wasn't a person in the room who didn't know who I was, but their reactions were always different. Some would look away in fear, others would stare as if star struck, those whom I was on speaking terms with would acknowledge me with either a nod or a smile, and Tanya would give me her signature smirk. To say that Tanya wasn't beautiful would be a sad lie, she was the kind of beauty that could lead a man to his death, and had on numerous occasions. Her and I had a very brief, 'encounter' if you will, and she has proved to be highly persistent ever since. Always flirting with me when she has the opportunity to get me alone, and has propositioned me on more than one occasion. I won't lie. I enjoyed the sex, but I'm not one to encourage something that could never work. Tanya is a smart, sexy, and exciting, but she wanted something I couldn't give her. An attachment. If she'd been willing to just let our 'friendship' be what it was, I would had gladly bent her over that couch she was sitting on for all to see, but… she wanted love, and that was something I couldn't give her, even if I understood it. So, that is why I haven't touched her, at least in that way, in months. Shame, she could do the this thing with her back…

"Edward." My fathers voice cut through my thoughts.

"Father," I nodded in acknowledgement, noticing that he wasn't alone.

"Edward, this is Peter Lehane, if you talked to your sister, which I'm sure you have, then you already know that I plan to put him in place with you and Jasper on the business front. He has an exceptional background, both career wise and academically and I'm sure he will prove to be a valuable asset. I expect you to be welcoming and helpful if and when he has any questions. Are we clear?" My father spoke with authority, which meant he was serious. He knew we didn't take well to newbies.

"Yes sir," I answered automatically. My father was a good man, a great father, and he looked after those closest to him. He was also someone you did not fuck with. When Aro took over after his father died, he'd thought that he could just kill us all and be done with it. It would have worked too, if it had not been for my father. Don't get me wrong, my granddad was one smart man, and knew his business, but my father. He was a genius. Dad had the ability to stay two steps ahead of everyone else and knew how to improvise. I was still amazed at some of the things he'd done. It was like when a kid sees a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat for the first time. You want to learn it all for yourself. My father had single handedly made both Cullen Enterprises and the family business more successful than anyone before him. He had also accomplished this without getting us killed by the Volturi, or getting thrown in prison by the feds. All the while, remaining a good husband and a stable and loving father, to, not, only Emmett, Alice, and myself, but to Rosalie and Jasper since they came to live with us when they were twelve. I had great respect for my father, and even if I didn't understand or agree with some of his decisions, I would not disrespect him by being impolite. At least not in front of him, and I had every intention of discussing this with him later.

"Hello Edward, I've heard a lot about you and I'm honored that we will be working together." The newbie said, holding his hand out for me to shake. Now I see what Garrett was talking about when he said that this guy was too put together. He was too clean cut. I mean, he was built and didn't look like a total wimp, unlike Newton, which I guess is a point on his side, but I don't know. He stood tall, held his chin up high, and his blue eyes didn't falter as I stared him down, which garnered some respect, but his look was… off. He'd combed his hair like a kid would have for a school picture and dressed like some college prep. He looked like he could have been intimidating if you didn't want to laugh at him. He'd need to work on that, especially if he was going to be working with a bunch of killers.

"Likewise." I'm nothing if not professional, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Alright, Peter. Now that you've been introduced to everyone, we can proceed with the ceremony." My father gestured for him to follow him to the middle of the room and everyone fell silent, knowing that it was time for the indoctrination. I sighed in boredom as I made my way across the room and seated myself in a chair next to Alice and Jasper.

"Don't look so bored." Alice chided playfully.

"Hey Jazz," A said quietly, but loud enough to gain his attention. "I think you might be off with your Volturi theory. This guy doesn't look like he would have made it past their front door, let alone get hired to spy on us."

"You never know." Jasper replied lightly, his calculating eyes, never leaving pretty boy Peter. I may have just found his new nickname…

"Attention everyone," My father called to order, as my mother came to sit in the empty chair beside me, giving me a small smile before focusing her attention towards my father. I followed suit. "Peter Lehane?"

"Yes sir." Newbie asked, his voice strong. Point two.

"Do you understand the oath of which you are about to take?" My father asked, his face blank of all emotion.

"Yes sir."

"Do you understand that you will be mixed in with dealings of both an illegal and risky nature?" My father pressed on.

"Yes sir."

"Do you understand that what we do here is to remain secret at any an all times and is not to be spoken of with anyone outside of this room?" My father asked the most important question.

"Yes sir."

"And finally," My father drawled. "Do you understand that any act against, or any deviation from the rules set before you can and will result in your death?"

And what do you know? The newbie didn't disappoint. "Yes sir."

"Very well," My father nodded, before his eyes scanned the room. "Let the record show that Peter Lehane has both pledged his service, and has verbally confirmed that he is in understanding of the rules."

We all nodded our confirmations and my father continued to explain to both Peter and the rest of us what Peter's position would be, which didn't sit well with some, but none of them had the guts to go against my father, so they remained silent. I did, however, enjoy seeing Newton's face fall after hearing that the newest newbie had already surpassed him. Life's a bitch sometimes. The ceremony lasted for at least twenty minutes after that, which was the perfect reminder of why I usually didn't attend these things.

"Edward," My mother said softly, after my father called a dismissal. "How have you been?"

"I've been good mom." I said convincingly.

"That's good," She responded with a smile, but I could tell she didn't believe me. That woman had instincts. "So I was hoping you would join me and your siblings for breakfast in the morning, you know, like we used to. It seems like I barely see you anymore. Your always working."

Did I mention that my mother was also the master in the art of manipulation? "I'll be there."

"Good," She said, giving me a light kiss on the cheek as she stood from her seat. "I love you, baby boy."

I smiled kindly in response. She knew I couldn't say it back and she didn't take offence. She just smiled back and trailed over to where my brother sat with Rose. I sighed and turned to find my father standing alone by the fireplace. Lehane was on the other side of the room talking with Carmen and Eleazer, so I figured now was just as good a time as any to get some answers.

"Dad." I called quietly, as I approached him.

"Yes son?" He asked, giving me his full attention.

"We need to talk." I said coolly.

My father's lips lifted into a smirk. "You can trust him Edward."

I should have known he would have already guessed what it was I wanted to talk about. Two steps ahead. "With all do respect sir, we don't know him."

"No," My father agreed, but then, like always, he surprised me. "But I knew his father, and he was a good man, a trustworthy man."

"Who was his father?" I asked curiously.

"That's not relevant at this time. Peter doesn't know I knew his father, and even if he did, that's not the only reason I hired him. I hired him 'cause he was qualified, him being in need of a job was just convenient." He sure knew how to be vague.

"Just because you knew his father doesn't mean we can trust him." I stated.

"No," He sighed. "But you can trust me."

I wanted to argue, but knew that it would be useless. So instead I nodded. "I'll accept that for now, but I'm not happy about this."

"Duly noted, now enjoy the rest of your night, we have work to do tomorrow and we're taking Peter along with us." He said, patting me on the back before walking away and leaving me to my thoughts. Great, more work, and now I have to take the newbie along with.

Just fucking great.

* * *

**_Thank you for reading I hope you liked it._**

**_If you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it._**

**_Daba91_**


	3. The Pretender

**_I want to give a shout out to anyone who has read this story. Major thanks to those of you who have put this story on your favorites, alerts, or reviewed. I greatly appreciate the luv. I get that the changes to the story are a bit random, but I hope you stay with it 'cause things are just getting good._**

**_The song for this chapter is the Foo Fighters – The Pretender_**

**_Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Twilight or Any of its Characters, I just own this crazy plot._**

* * *

CH.2

**_Edward's P.O.V._**

The Pretender

Breakfast past quickly. My mother clearly enjoyed spending time with all of her children, along with Jasper and Rosalie. She did her usual bit of asking us how our lives were, and listening intently to every word said. I of course, didn't have much to say, but like always, she didn't mind. Afterwards, Emmett, Rosalie, my father, and I said our goodbyes and made our way to the garage. We'd packed everything we'd needed the night before and loaded it all into our cars, knowing full well that my father liked to remain on schedule.

"Okay…" My father spoke before climbing into the passenger seat of my Volvo. "Emmett, you and Rose follow behind Edward and I. We'll be stopping in the city first to pick up Peter and from there we'll be heading Northwest past Port Angeles."

"We'll be right behind you." Emmett replied as him and Rose, climbed into his Hummer.

This was our standard travel detail. Four people, two vehicles filled with a shit load of guns, and everyone else would stay behind to work from home. At least, when the job called for it. I'd done plenty of jobs myself and liked it better that way. It was a lot easier to take care of business when you only had to watch your own ass. Not that the others couldn't handle themselves. Though, I was actually kind of thrown off when my father announced that Rosalie would be going with us. She'd been on jobs before, but I had expected Jasper to come. He usually did.

"So where in the city does the newbie live?" I asked while starting the car.

My father set me with a disapproving look, before giving me directions. Turns out that the newbie didn't live that far from the first apartment I'd lived in, his was just a few streets down. So I was quick to find it. I parked on the street, cut the engine and followed my fathers' lead by climbing out of the car and heading inside the small apartment building. It may have been close to where I'd lived, but it definitely wasn't as nice.

"Alice wasn't lying when she said this guy needed the money, this place is a dump." I scoffed at my observation. I'd be surprised if the inside looked any better.

"Must you always see the worst in everything?" My father asked, not turning to acknowledge me as he continued towards what I could only assume was Peter's door.

"If that's all that's there for me too see, then yes." It was the truth. If the world were made up of happy people and rainbows, then that's what I would see, though I'm pretty sure that would be far worse than anything I have seen, and I've seen some seriously twisted shit. What I did see, however, was one fucked up world, that looked to be getting even shittier by the day. So until I saw for myself that there was something truly good in this world. He'd just have to deal with me.

"Come on little brother," Emmett laughed, as him and Rose fell into step with us. "Pull that stick out of your ass and smile like you mean it for once."

"To bad it isn't still winter," I mused. "Then you could've taken your furry ass and gone back into hibernation."

"And leave you without a ride to the clinic when one of your groupies tags your ass with an STD?" Rose, in all her cold bitchiness, just had to throw her two cents in.

"Who needs to go to the clinic, when I could just ask you for help, seeing as you've carried them all at some point?" She should have known better than to fuck with me. "Still itching?"

"That's enough." My father barked, as we reached the door to Peter's apartment, and he gave it three hard knocks. I could hear movement coming from the other side of the door and just a second later it opened.

"Hello sir," Peter nodded to my father, as he stepped aside to allow us entrance, greeting the rest of us by name as we passed by him. "Edward, Emmett, Rose."

Emmett was the only one aside from my father to verbally respond to Peter's greeting. I simply nodded and Rose just stared him down, and not in the way that a man would appreciate. That was Rose for you; she trusted very few people and liked them even less. Like I've said before, fucked up childhood.

"I'll be ready in just one minute sir, I just have to pack a few things." Peter called behind him as he turned and shot down the hall and into his bedroom.

My fathers phone began ringing and he pulled it from his coat pocket to see who it was that was calling. When he did, he was visibly irritated. "I'll take this outside."

I watched as my father exited through the door of the small apartment, which had proved to be just as crappy as I'd thought it would be. Everything was in order, sure, so the guy wasn't by any means a slob, but the apartment in itself was a bust. I'd bet good money that he didn't bring many women back here. At least, not any that had high expectations.

"Well look what we have here," Emmett whistled, looking at a picture that sat in a wood frame on one of the end tables. "It looks like Pete's got himself a girlfriend, a cute one at that."

A loud smack sounded throughout the room and was followed by Emmett mumbling an apology to Rose. She was in truth, one damn good looking woman, and if she hadn't of irritated me so fucking much I might have gone after her, but that wasn't the case. Rose was strong-minded, had a body that a supermodel would kill for, with a fiery temper to match, but she was vain. If her attitude weren't such a turn off then that would be the final nail in the coffin. I couldn't tolerate a needy woman, but add in a chick that would get jealous if you so much as looked at another woman, in the fear that you'd find her more attractive, and I'd have to bail. That shit just wouldn't fly with me, but of course I'm not Emmett. Some would call him a man in love. I call him dense.

"I didn't say she was attractive, just that she was cute." He defended, and Rose rolled her eyes.

I was sitting a couple of feet away so I didn't have the best view of the picture. I had to admit though. The girl in the picture was cute, young looking, but cute. Her skin was pale, but looked like porcelain under the light of the sun. She wore a bright smile, which lit up her chocolate hued eyes, and her long dark hair fell to her waist in loose curls. If she didn't look so damn young I would have liked the chance to meet her so I could show her what I'm sure she'd been missing. I'm sure pretty boy Pete wasn't up to the job, he just seemed too square. Which did make me curious as to why he'd be with a girl so young, but, come to think of it, Peter looked a bit younger himself in the picture, so it must have been an older picture. I wandered if it was a serious relationship. Had to be if they were still together, which one could assume since he had the picture out and resting on the table. They did look pretty close, as she had her hands held lightly around his waist. I also wandered if she lived with him or not, it didn't look like a woman lived here, and I think that Alice mentioned that he'd spent years living in New York, so maybe that's were she was and they were trying one of those long distance relationships. If that was the case, then more power to them, 'cause I know for damn sure that I couldn't survive on phone sex alone. The things that love can reduce a man too. That would never be me.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall and turned to see Peter walk into the room with a duffle bag strung over his shoulder. "Okay, I'm ready."

"You sure about that?" I asked, unconvinced. This guy had no idea what he'd gotten himself into. Oath or not, words don't mean shit the first time someone's got a gun pointed at you.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, offended.

Well, since he asked. "It means that we can't afford to have some preppy ass wannabe going catatonic on us in the middle of a firefight. This is a dangerous life we live and I don't think your cut out for it. Now, if there's any truth to that, I suggest that you back out now, 'cause if it comes down to my life or yours, I ain't taking a bullet for you."

Emmett and Rose remained silent as we waited for Peter's response.

Peter sighed, but kept his chin up. "Normally I would just let this slide and pass it off as us getting off on the wrong foot, but since you and your friends haven't spoken to me past introductions, that's hardly the case. So let's just clear up a few things before the possibility of any actual firefight. I come from a small town named after a kitchen utensil. I worked my ass off all through high school and college just to sit behind a desk and work for a company that didn't pay well and allowed me absolutely no freedom. I relocated here to be closer to what's left of my family, and was offered a job that paid a ridiculously large amount of money. I don't smoke, but drink on occasion, my favorite color is red, and I, as I'm sure you can see, live in a crap apartment. When I talk to someone, I talk to him or her, with kindness and respect, because that is the way my father raised me, but that doesn't mean I can't throw down with the best of them. I even understand that yours and the others dislike of me is due to your lack of trust, which is perfectly understandable, but if we are going to work together, you will all just have to deal with me, 'cause I'm not running."

I looked over my shoulder at Rose and Emmett, who were both wearing smirks that matched my own. He got his point across, and he didn't raise his voice once. I was impressed. The newbie had balls.

"Now that we're all in understanding of one another," My father said with a wry smile, alerting us to his presence. The man was slick. "Let's get going, we're wasting daylight."

The others nodded and we all exited out through the door and into the hall, giving Peter a minute to lockup. Once he did, we made our way outside and towards the cars.

"You didn't back down up there, I respect that." I said to Peter. I didn't look at him or even stop walking.

"Thanks." He said unsure. He obviously wasn't expecting that. Neither was I.

"However," I smirked. "That doesn't mean I like you or even that we are now or will ever be friends, and if you ever so much as get out of line, or speak out of term with me I'll kill you. No questions, your dead."

"Okay," He nodded. "And Cullen."

"What?" Just warned him, and he's already pushing his luck.

"I won't take a bullet for you either." He answered in an even voice.

I opened the door to my Volvo Xc60 Crossover and climbed into the drivers seat as my father slipped into the passenger. I slipped the key into the ignition and gave it a slight turn, bringing the car to life, then looked over my shoulder at Peter who was seated behind my father. "You're a smart man."

My father, paying no mind to our conversation, gazed down at his watch, and then spoke. "Take I-5 North, exit off on 177 to connect on the 104, head West until you reach the ramp that connects to the 101 North Olympic Highway, continue on to Burnt mountain Road, where you'll be heading West down the 112, after that, take a slight left at Holden Creek Ave, the first left onto Fort Street, and the first left onto first Ave. We'll be meeting Harold Greene at the Cedar Shack Espresso, and from there we'll be heading to the docking location, outside of town. It should take us about four hours to get there, but considering the way you drive, it could be less."

"Neah Bay?" I asked, working his directions into my mental map. I'd been in that area a few times before.

"Yes." He replied.

"That's about an hour North of my hometown." Peter mused.

"Right, utensil town." I snickered, he didn't reply.

"Let's get a move on." My father mumbled.

With that, I put the car in drive, following the directions my father had given me. I exited the city, with Emmett following closely behind me. Neah Bay was a bit of a distance from Seattle, about four hours to be exact, but my father had been right when he said that it would be less time than calculated since I was driving. Or at least less time then it would for someone who was abiding by the driving laws. Stop signs meant little to me, I saw the yellow light as a personal challenge, and I firmly believe that a car should be driven as fast at it could go. Fortunately, Emmett shared those thoughts, and was able to keep up, 'cause I sure as hell wasn't slowing down for him. We drove through Seattle quickly, and after that, we coasted down one highway after another. Every minute passed, bringing us closer and closer to our destination.

"So, you mentioned that we'd be heading to the docking location?" Peter mused. "What exactly are we going to be doing then?"

"We will be overseeing a delivery." My father replied quickly.

"Of what exactly?" Peter pressed further.

"Guns, and a lot of them." I stole a quick glance at Peter through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but smirk, when I saw the shocked look that worked itself onto his face, when my father spoke. He probably thought we were unloading school supplies. Dumbass.

Taking a minute to regain his composure he asked. "Do you normally oversee these things yourself, I'm sure you have plenty of people to do it for you?"

My father nodded. "I could, but if there's anything I've learned over the years is that it's not entirely true that if you want something done right, you do it yourself. It should be, that if you want something done to your satisfaction, you do it yourself. However, I do lead a very busy life, so at times I will have someone I trust oversee these things in my stead. Otherwise, I will be there, as will you as it pertains to your job, which is why you're here now. You need to learn how everything works first hand, and become familiar with the people you'll be dealing with."

"Okay." Peter nodded as he took it all in.

"The man we are about to meet," My father started, pausing only for a moment to make sure, that he had Peter's attention. "His name is Harold Greene, he's been a friend of mine for almost thirty years and I trust him with my life, however, business wise. I have not been able to allow him to do much more than making sure shipments get from point A to point B. He's not very, 'alert' to the little things that go on around him, which is another reason why I'm going."

"Good old Harold," I muttered, while switching lanes. Harold was loyal, which was why my father kept him around, but he was definitely not the sharpest man you'd ever meet. "Was he the one you were talking to back at Peter's shack?"

That earned me a glare from my father, and I could damn near, hear Peter rolling his eyes in the back seat. "No that was not him, it was Rick who's working on detail with Harold."

"And what was he talking about?" One of these days, I swear, this man was gonna have to cut it out with these short answers.

"He's concerned about three of the workers that Harold hired. He thinks they're shady." This would more than likely some off as backwards given our lifestyle but if there were ever something that irritated us more, it would be shady ass punks looking to run one over on us. We're criminals, but this business is nothing without respect. Take our feud with the Volturi for instance, they despised us, we hated them, but we'd be fool too not acknowledge that they were worthy adversaries as I'm sure they'd do for us. That is why I personally don't understand how some low level punks, trying to make a name for themselves would be stupid enough to think that they could play an organization as big as ours and not be found out; and here I thought Pete was a dumbass.

"Meaning?" Peter asked.

Yes, he's still a dumbass. "It means that, that actual firefight we talked about, just might happen. Which makes this one hell of a first day for you. The good thing, though, is that you've already been warned that I wont baby-sit your ass, so you better be ready to defend yourself."

"Well do you think I could at least borrow a gun from you?" he asked with a slight grin. "I forgot my grandmothers at home."

"Another sarcastic kid," My father snickered. "Yeah, he'll fit right in with the rest of you."

"That's assuming he lives." I deadpanned. "Under the seat. It's loaded and it works so don't be stupid and point it at anyone you don't intend to shoot, 'cause they will shoot back."

Peter nodded as he pulled the .44 magnum out from under the seat, examining it for just a moment. "A Desert Eagle, nice."

"At least he knows what it is." My father muttered thoughtfully, before explaining how things would most likely play out if what Rick's suspicions were on point. I tuned them out and continued to drive. I'd dealt with traitors before, and already knew what would be done. There was really only one outcome. Death. However, there were two ways it would play out. If the traitor had information we might need, then we'll interrogate them before we kill them, and if they don't have anything worth learning, we just kill them. So, for the most part, traitors are a rarity, but the small few just don't know what is good for them. Like I've said before, I can't stand when people try to play us, but I wont deny that I enjoy the outcome. Killing is killing, but I find it far more exciting when I'm given a cause, 'cause then, it's about sending a message, in the most gruesome way possible, and I never have to hold back. Whatever weak ass pacifist said violence was not the answer had clearly never felt the thrill of it. The rush of being completely out of control of your own actions while simultaneously, being in complete power over someone else's. Or that surge of strength you feel as the adrenaline starts pumping, allowing you to take a hit then dish one out, ten times worse. To me, violence was a chill breeze on scorching hot day, or like sex when you've gone without it for too long, that shit was the best form of therapy, and although it didn't make me any less crazy, it kept me from saying, 'fuck it all' and relocating to some deserted island to live out the rest of my cold and unbalanced life.

"We're almost there, should be about twenty minutes." I said as I passed by a sign that said, 'Neah Bay' which pulled me from my thoughts.

I could see my father nodding out of the corner of my eye. "Alright, like I said before, once we get into town we'll be meeting up with Harold at the Cedar Shack Espresso, then we'll be heading to the drop point."

Neither Peter nor myself responded. It wasn't necessary; once we reached our destination we would have a job to do. For me, this was just like any other day, but for Peter, this was a learning experience as well as a chance to prove himself. No training wheels, no do over, no acceptable mistakes. If he didn't show his worth today then he would either die in the line of fire or spend of the rest of his time in the organization doing grunt work like Newton. This was his moment, and as I glanced at him through the rearview mirror I was mildly impressed that he looked calm. Appearances however, can be deceiving. So I'll wait and see what happens.

I exited off the highway and made the first left onto Fort Street and then a second left onto 1st Ave officially crossing into Neah Bay. From there, I fallowed my father's directions to the Cedar Shack Espresso. There wasn't a lot going on in this town, the shops were small, the houses were scattered, and to anyone who lived in a big city like Seattle it would appear to be a whole nether world, yet for some reason, I liked it. It wasn't impressive or anything, hell the Cedar Shack Espresso looked like a million other old diners shown on TV, and looked almost lonely where it sat on the edge of the street, but it wasn't the view that I liked. It was the feeling. As poor as this town appeared to be in comparison to all of the big cities I've been in across the globe, it felt free and untouched, like it was it's own little spot in the world that everybody else was ignorant too. Like it's very existence was sacred and preserved in the most natural way. Who'd of thought that a shit hole like this one could feel so… freeing?

"Come on." My father called to Peter as he opened his door and slid out of the car. I cut the engine and followed behind as Emmett and Rosalie pulled up beside me and climbed out of his Hummer, following us inside of the small diner without so much as word. We were in work mode now and words weren't needed. All that was important was that our job got done. We entered behind my father who'd instantly spotted the black hair, blue-eyed man that was Harold Greene. He wore a brown sweater and light blue jeans that showed his slim build and though he stood about five feet ten, you couldn't tell as he sat in a corner booth of the diner with his eyes glued to the newspaper he held. It only proved my father's point about how 'alert' Harold was by how long it took him to notice us in the diner. We had already reached the table.

"Carlisle my old friend." Harold greeted welcomingly as he reached out his hand for my father to shake.

"Harold." My father accepted his welcome and we all took a seat around the table.

"Emmett, Rose, Edward." Harold acknowledged. "You've all grown since the last time I saw you, good to see you all well. Who's the newbie?"

"Peter Lehane." Peter spoke for himself.

"Nice to meet you." Harold nodded before turning back towards my father. "So how've you been, how's Esme, Alice, Eleazar, and the others?"

"Everyone's well," My father spoke. "Thank you for asking, and you? How've you been?"

"Can't complain." Harold shrugged. "I'm still kicking so I must be doing something right."

"When will the boats be in?" My father asked, catch-up was over, back to business.

Harold glanced down at his Rolex watch that covered his left wrist. "We've got five minutes until they're here, I've got Rick on the boats, they're all moving together so he can keep an eye on things and Steve is at the drop point waiting to help unload. Normally I would be with them but since we're using a different drop, I wanted to take you there myself. I've got to tell you though, it was a bit difficult using so many small boats given that we normally use one big boat, since we can carry more and they're better suited for tough weather conditions."

My father nodded. "I know it was a difficult change to be made last minute, but Aro is watching for larger boats, and given that we were in fact using a different drop I figured it would be wiser to use smaller boats so to be less noticeable. The last thing we need is for some curious citizen alerting the coast guards of a ship docking near the woods."

"Well since you put it that way." Harold nodded.

"So Rick informed me that you've hired three new men to help with the shipment." I've never had to question where my blunt nature came from; my father has always made it very clear that I'd inherited it from him.

"Uh, yes, Carl, Tim, and Earl, they did a few jobs for a friend of mine and I figured that they'd be useful since we were using several boats, so I hired them, and they've done well." Harold answered lightly. "Why?"

"Rick is concerned," My father replied without reserve. "He feels that they're untrustworthy."

"They haven't done anything for me to be concerned." Harold stated. He was visibly irritated that his actions were being questioned.

"Well hopefully you're correct and Rick is just being his usual paranoid self." My father's expression and tone remained even, but it was obvious that he was annoyed at Harold's idiocy. He'd been truthful when he said that Rick was paranoid, but he knew just as well as the rest of us that as were Rick was one paranoid fucker, he was always right about these things. Looking down at his watch, my father spoke again. "It's time, Lead the way Harold."

"Sure thing." Harold said as we all stood from the booth and headed through the exit and back towards out cars. Emmett and Rose climbed back into his Hummer, Peter, My father, and I, got into my Volvo, and Harold slipped into a dark blue Hybrid. The man wasn't too sharp but he was all for helping the environment. I started my car and followed closely behind Harold, heading south down a paved road for about fifteen minutes before turning onto a dirt road that cut through the woods. We continued on that road for another five minutes before reaching a clearing. The clearing was just a small patch of land that sat right before the water, where the six small boats that had carried the shipment had docked onto the shore. There were small wood ramps leading up from the ground to the boats so that the men moving the heavy crates could easily carry them down from the boats and into the small abandoned cabin that was located just off the water near the clearing. It had blended into the trees so well that I hadn't even noticed it at first. I pulled up right beside Harold's hybrid, which he'd parked next to five large black vans with dark tinted windows, and cut the engine, ready to get down to business.

"You see them?" My father asked with a look that could melt metal, as he signaled towards the three punk-ass's that I'd already caught sight of. Carl, Tim, and Earl; the bastards looked shady, I didn't need Rick to point them out, and clearly, neither did my father. I looked to Emmett and Rose and could tell they'd spotted them too. This was gonna be fun.

"They don't look too tough." Peter mused, having caught on to what we'd figured out.

"Neither does Alice, but she can kill a man three times her size without breaking a sweat." Like I said, I taught her to fight.

No other words were spoken as we all exited the car. My father passed a quick look of understanding towards a younger man with red hair whom I'd known to be Rick, who had been glaring at the three men he'd viewed as untrustworthy, and he nodded in silent response. My father then turned to Harold and both of them made their way across the clearing and towards the cabin with me, Peter, Emmett, and Rose moving quickly yet silently behind them. The outside of the cabin had been shitty, and as I stepped inside I could say with all honesty that the inside wasn't any better, it might have been worse. It looked like it had endured an army of termites and would collapse at any moment, and I sure as hell didn't want to be in it when it did.

"As you can see," Harold spoke as he moved throughout the room that held at least twelve crates. "They've already moved several in off the boats and the rest should be moved soon. I've had them do inventory on the boats before they were brought inside so they wouldn't have to be checked before we load them into the vans. From there, they will be transferred to the warehouses in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Nevada, and Florida, like you've instructed, and I'm sure you'd like to take on back with you, so I'll have someone load it into the Hummer. So, everything is going as scheduled."

My father nodded as he made his way through the room. "You say you had them checked on the boats?"

"Yes." Harold answered immediately.

My father nodded again. "Did you keep track of which crates were on which boats, in case they had been lost?"

"Yes, sir, we always keep track of them by number." Harold knew that my father liked to be thorough so he didn't catch on to what was happening. He just answered the questions he was asked.

"So you could tell me who was on each specific boat by the tracking number on the crates?" My father asked.

"Yes, but I don't understand how that's relevant." Harold answered confused.

"Just humor me," My father spoke in a dismissive tone before signaling to Emmett and Rose. "I need the two of you to check each crate, if anything looks suspicious, give me the tracing number."

Emmett and Rosalie silently went to work checking each crate carefully. The first few crates held a large load of different firearms, one held Mossberg 540 shotguns, others held various rifles, such as, M16's, M40's, MSSR's, SPR's, Steyr MS. 50's, T93 snipers, and some of the crates held, Tec-9's, TMP's, Uzi's, Mac-10's also known as the 'spray and pray' on the street, and a shit load of hand guns, and I wanted several of them for myself. I looked over at Peter who was watching with interest, then to my father who was watching Harold, who just looked down right confused. I knew my father wouldn't fire him and that's why he'd hired Rick to keep an eye on things, but he'd still face consequences for hiring those three if this turned bad.

"Carlisle." Rose called calmly, but there was always a bit of bite to her tone. "The crates with the number 12286943582 are loaded with rocks, someone unloaded the guns."

"What?" Harold asked, his face going pale. "That's impossible, we checked them when we loaded them onto the boats in Canada, everything was there."

"And they still are," I said in an irritated tone. "Whoever was on the boats with those guns traded them out with the rocks, while on the boats."

"So the guns are still on the boats." Peter nodded in understanding.

"And the guys who traded them out were gonna take the guns back with them to Canada, thinking that we wouldn't find out before they'd already disappeared." Emmett concluded.

"Which boat?" My father asked annoyed.

"The crates with that number were on boat three." Harold answered quietly, knowing full we that he fucked up.

"And I assume that boat three was left in the charge of the new men you hired." It wasn't a question, he already knew.

"Yes sir." Harold responded with his head down.

"Okay then," My father sighed. "Let's take care of this matter quickly, then I want those guns put back into those crates and I want all of the crates to be transferred to their specified locations, and quickly, we don't want the authorities snooping around after they get any reports of gunfire in the area."

My father breezed past the rest of us and outside of the cabin, and we were quick to follow. He kept up a brisk pace as he moved through the clearing and up the ramp of boat three, where he stayed out of view for just a moment before reappearing with a large cloth bag that any moron could tell was holding guns.

"Would anyone like to explain this?" My father spoke with authority. We all of course, already knew who was responsible, but he was just fuckin' with them.

"Shit!" The man whom I think was Tim shrieked, before Emmett who'd stood right behind him, wrapped his large muscled arms tightly around his neck, before twisting it forcefully. A loud crack sounded through the clearing and Tim, whose neck was now spun almost completely around, dropped to the dirt with a loud thud. After seeing their friend drop, Carl and Earl wasted no time whatsoever try to make their escape, running speedily into the woods; the trees providing cover for them from the bullets that flew through the air from some of the other man who worked for my father.

"Come on newbie," I called to Peter as my instincts took over and the need to kill propelled me through the trees and further into the woods after the two frightened men. "Time to prove yourself."

I was fast, always had been, and as the wind brushed past me and I felt my heart beating uncontrollably, I knew that I was gaining on them. I wasn't tired, not a chance, I'd ran distances far greater than this, this was nothing, it was easy. Obviously the same could be said for Rosalie, 'cause although she wasn't as fast as I was she was keeping up pretty well. The two losers breathing heavily a few feet in front of us didn't stand a chance, I was bad, but like her brother, Rose was crazy. The bitch was a hunter born and nothing ever got in the way of her and her pray. Peter was in for a show, Rose and me already knew how this would play out, and we could damn near visualize it. I'd take the one on the left 'cause he had a good five feet distance ahead of his friend, and I'd be able to catch him in no time, and as for Rosalie; that guy Earl was just the type she liked to go after. He was twice her size and stood at least six feet, so she'd play with him, torture him just a little, but enough to make him beg for mercy, and as impatient as she was, she'd make it quick.

I was just about to make my way past Earl to reach Carl, when Earl twisted his body around with a small handgun held tightly in his grasp and fired in my direction. It didn't slow me down one bit though; I made a quick cut through the trees and continued after Carl. I wasn't worried about Earl, Rose would take care of him, the fact alone that he wasn't dead yet told me that she'd already started playing with him. He just didn't know it yet.

"Ah," Carl shouted as I leaped forward and knocked him to the ground. Fighting with Jasper was suicide, fighting with Emmett was work for sure, Fighting with Garrett was fun, but fighting with this punk, would be painfully easy. Carl stood from the ground fast enough but made it way to obvious that he was reaching for his gun, so I brought my boot down hard on his hand, making it slam against a tree and effectively crushing all five fingers, which of course included his trigger finger. He screamed in pain and I smiled at the sound. The pain on his face showed that it was nearly unbearable but as a man fighting for his life Carl still fought. He swung several swift punches with his uninjured hand that never once connected, partly due to my speed and partly due to the lack of balance his injury caused. He swung once more and his hand came within just inches of my face, but never once did he touch me. I laughed darkly before my arm shot forward and connected forcefully with his jaw, with a loud snap. I watched intently as he flew to the ground, screaming and holding his hand to his jaw, unsure of what to do with himself.

I may have been in my own little world but I'd felt the presence behind me for a while and knew whom it was. "Peter."

"Yes sir?" He asked in an even tone.

"I said that it was time too prove yourself," I turned to him with a smirk. "You've already shown that your willing to deal with the rest of us, you've handled the lighter part of the day well, now it's time to see just how willing you really are. Shoot him."

"Shoot him?" Peter repeated in question.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Be the one to show him exactly what happens to traitors."

Peter hesitated for just a moment before taking a few steps forward, lifting the gun he'd been holding, and pointing it directly at Carl's head.

"Do it." I ordered. Peter closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger with a loud click. Peter gasped and opened his eyes, looking from the gun to a still alive Carl, and then to me.

"What the hell?" He asked angry.

"First test of loyalty, you passed, you pulled the trigger, fortunately for you, you wont have to kill anybody today." I reached to the inside of my jacket and pulled out my pistol, before setting it dead aim at Carl, and squeezing the trigger. Only this time, it did what it was supposed to.

"So you gave me a faulty gun." Peter stated in disbelief.

"Yes." I answered evenly.

"Well what would have happened if there had been a major firefight and I had a faulty gun?" He asked shaking his head.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, irritated. I was getting real tired of having to constantly explain things to this guy. "I told you I wouldn't take a bullet for you and that is still true, however, my father wouldn't let anything happen to you, so relax, you did good today."

"Un-fucking believable." Peter muttered, taking a deep breath.

"Carl," A voice shouted from behind us. "You killed my brother, you son of a bitch."

I sighed, looking to Peter and giving him a look that said, 'remain calm' before slowly turning around to face Earl, who had his gun pointed at my chest. "Yeah, well, he should had known better than to steal from me."

"Go to hell!" Earl sneered.

"I will," I said with a dark smile. "But not today. Today, is your day."

"What a…" Earl didn't get around to asking me what I meant. His answer came from above, as Rosalie's menacingly stealthy ass descended from the tree and landed directly behind him, without so much as a sound. She reached her left arm around his neck, shocking him into dropping his gun, then with blinding speed, she lifted her right arm and used a buckle knife to pierce his neck five times, before stepping back and letting him slide to the ground. Strangled gasps, and sickening gurgling noises escaped him as he held his hands to his neck trying to stem the blood flow without any success. The three of us stood and watched his eyes fluttered wildly as his last attempt at breathing failed and his life slowly slipped away. Like I said, Rosalie liked to play with her kill.

"Let's get back to the others." I said before heading back to the clearing. From there, everything went smoothly. The guns were put back into the crates; all of the crates were loaded into the vans; except for the one that Emmett loaded into the Hummer. My father ordered two men to dispose of the bodies of Carl, Earl, and Tim, and Harold was warned about his stupidity. After that, ten men climbed into the vans for transport, Harold, Rick and several other boarded the boats to head back to Canada, Emmett and Rose climbed into the Hummer, and My father, Peter, and I all got into my Volvo.

"It's pretty late," I said observantly. The setbacks caused by those traitors had lost us a few hours of daylight. "Do you want to make the four hour drive back to Seattle or should we just go to a hotel for the night?"

"Hotel." My father said distastefully. In our line of business, we spent a lot of time in hotel's, however, they're usually five star, and I don't see that being the case, given where we are. "Just for the night, we'll head back to Seattle in the morning."

"Um, sir," Peter spoke from the backseat. "I'm sure you don't want to stay in this town, given what we just did, so if you're interested in an alternative, Forks is the closest town, and since Edward is driving it wont even take us an hour to get there."

"They have any decent hotels there?" My father asked hopeful.

Peter nodded, "There are a few, like the Pacific Inn, but if you all want, we could stay at my family home, I know my sister wouldn't mind."

My father gave Peter a curious look through the rearview mirror. "What exactly does your sister know about your new job, given that I'm sure she'll be curious as to why we need to stay there?"

"Me and my sister have always been close," Peter sighed. "So I hate the thought of lying to her and keeping things from her, and I just can't. I haven't told her anything about what I do, she's an intelligent girl and figures that whatever it is isn't exactly legal but other than that, we've come to a don't ask don't tell kind of deal. As long as I promise not to get myself killed, she's cool with it."

My father remained silent for a moment before responding. "And you're sure she wont mind?"

"Positive." Peter nodded.

"Okay then," I breathed. "Peter. Lead the way to utensil town."

Peter rolled his eyes, but proceeded to give me directions. We headed south down the 101 for about forty-five minutes before entering the small town that was Forks. From there, Peter directed me to a small yet decent double story home, with an old battered red truck in the driveway. We all climbed out of our vehicles and Emmett and I unloaded our overnight bags. We followed Peter up the driveway and waited as he used his key to unlock the door, before heading inside. It was decent, homey, I guess, but overall it was better than some crap motel, like the ones we'd seen coming into town.

"There are two extra bedrooms upstairs, and the couch pulls out into a bed, so make yourselves at home and feel free to help yourselves to anything in the fridge, but I'm telling you, my sister is one great cook." Peter said all at once, he sure looked happy to be home.

"Where is this sister of yours?" I remembered Alice mentioning that he had a little sister, and was curious as to why she'd live here by herself.

"Peter?" A soft voice sounded from the top of the stairs. I turned around to see the girl from the picture in Peter's apartment descending the stairs, into the living room. She was older, that was for damn sure, and I'm not ashamed to say that the look of her in the small tank top and boy shorts she was wearing got a rise out of me. She was fucking beautiful from head to toe and damn if I didn't want her right then, but a thought struck me…

"Hey," Peter said giving her a caring hug, while she eyed the rest of us curiously. "We were just outside of town for work, and it got late so I suggested we all stay here, since I knew you wouldn't mind. This is my boss Carlisle, his son's, Emmett and Edward, and Rosalie. Everyone, this is my baby sister. Bella."

So the girl from the picture was not his girlfriend, but his sister.

Well I'll be damned.

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**_Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. I wanted to give you all a small taste of what Edward and the others were capable of. There will be a lot more action in later chapters. So I figured it would be pretty obvious that Bella was Peter's sister, since he was from Forks, but I hoped to throw you off with the different last names, which will be explained in the next chapter._**

**_The next chapter will be in Bella's point of view, and will be posted soon, I hope. A friend of mine is also forcing me to start another story so you'll be seeing that soon enough as well. Okay, I'm tired now. Be sure to check my Twitter account for updates, some of it's random, but it useful._**

**_Daba91_**


	4. It's My Life

**_Thanks to any and all who read this story. Shout out to those of you who have favored, alerted, or reviewed this story. Ya'll are great!_**

**_I would have had this posted sooner, but real life is such a complicated thing, it gets us when we least expect it. Good news is that I'll be writing like a maniac this weekend so there will be many posts in the coming weeks, and maybe even a new story, as well as the photo album for this story._**

**_The song for this chapter is "No Doubt's – It's My Life"_**

**_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended_**

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CH.3

**_Bella's P.O.V._**

It's My Life

I can faintly remember when I was five years old, and my brother who was just ten at the time, held me as we both cried ourselves to sleep. I can remember being sad, but not fully understanding why. He'd told me what our father, Charlie, had told him, that our mother had left. I didn't cry then, I had been confused. My mother had always left, as did my father, but they always came back. Sometimes they would come back with bags of food, other times they would just come home and go to sleep, but they always came back. It wasn't until Peter told me that she wasn't coming back that I cried. I was still confused; I couldn't fathom why she would leave. I was always good and wore the dresses she would put me in even though I didn't like them, I gave her lots of hugs and kisses and I told her I loved her as she had told me, as well as my brother and father that she loved us, but she still left. I remember thinking that it was somehow my fault. I'd always seen Peter and my father as perfect so it couldn't have been their faults and she had always told me that I should be more outspoken, that I was to quiet, so in my adolescent mind I had concluded that it had to have been me. That very same night, after my brother had fallen asleep beside me, I kissed his tear-stained cheek lightly, climbed from the bed and made my way through my darkened home. I checked mommy and daddy's room first but he wasn't there, and of course, she wasn't either. So then, I trailed my way down stairs, quiet as I could, but the stairs were steep and my tiny legs landed loudly against each step. I counted each of them as I went, as I had done many times before, because my father had told me that it was a good way to learn my numbers. So down I went, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and as I as I reached the last step which had always been that tallest, I fell with a loud thump. It didn't really hurt but I was slightly dazed, I didn't like to fall down, but I did, a lot. I could hear loud and unsteady footsteps coming from the living room and towards me, telling me that whoever it was; was running. Not a moment later, my father came around the corner, looking at me with panicked, red, puffy eyes, which made me even more sad. My father had been crying too, and my father never cried.

"Bella?" My father questioned as he swept me up into his arms, making me feel safe, like he always did when he held me. "What happened kiddo? Are you okay? What are you doing up?"

His voice was ruff and broken. Yet another thing I wasn't used to.

"I'm sorry daddy." I whispered sadly, fearing that he would be mad at me when I told him that it was my fault that mommy left.

My father looked at me confused, and asked. "For what sweetie?"

"It's all my fault." I replied looking over my fathers' shoulder to the picture that sat on the mantle over the fireplace. It was of me Peter, and my parents. It had been taken in Seattle when my parents had taken us there for the day. My memory of that day had been even more fuzzy, but I remember that Peter had the biggest smile etched onto his face the entire day as he held my hand and pulled me along to see all the cool things he'd seen. I remember he'd particularly liked the space needle, even going as far as to ask my father if there were actually aliens inside, and his face only fell for a second when my father laughed and said that there weren't. Peter got over it instantly though, saying that it was still the coolest thing he'd ever seen. I had fun, and not because of the sights or the bright purple balloon my mom had gotten me, or even the really great pizza we had ate, but because I was with my family, and I got to run around all day with my big brother, who was and has always been my favorite person in the whole world. Right before we left for the night, a man with shiny blonde hair and enchanting blue eyes took the picture of us with my fathers' camera. I remember him and my father having what appeared to be a nice conversation, but my mother, who was tying my unlaced shoe, looked nervous as she strained to hear what they were talking about, which was a wasted effort given that they were a good ten feet away from the bench we were sitting on. It was a good day, and the picture only held happy faces and bright smiles, and my mothers was the brightest.

"What's your fault?" My father asked, making me look away from the picture and into his warm brown eyes that were just like mine. My mother had always said that my fathers' eyes and mine were like butterfly wings, separated by a body, but completely identical to one another.

"It's my fault that mommy left," I answered with a sniffle, as the fresh tears filled my eyes and fell silently down my chubby cheeks. "But I didn't mean it, I thought I was being good, but she tells me that I'm too quiet and I didn't listen and that's why she's gone, but I really didn't mean it, and I don't want you to be mad at me and I don't want you and Petey to sad, so I swears I'll be good so mommy will come back home, and you can happy again."

"Bella." My father choked back a sob, and looked at me with tears building in his eyes. He shook his head slightly and carried me over to the couch, where he sat us both down, but kept a tight hold on me. "It's not your fault that mommy left. Why would you think that?"

"I has to be," I mumbled. "You and Petey never do anything wrong, so it has to be my fault."

"No," My father said sternly. "You listen to me kiddo, your mother leaving has nothing to do with you and is not now nor will it ever be your fault. Do you understand me?"

I shook my head, not fully understanding. "If it's not my fault, then who's is it?"

I remember seeing a look I'd never seen flash across my fathers face, it was angry, hurt, and resentful, and just as quickly as it came it was gone, then he spoke. "It's nobody's fault kiddo, sometimes, people just… they just leave, and it's nobody's fault, it just happens."

"Will you leave?" I asked fearfully, not sure if that was what everybody did at some point.

"Never." He said immediately, with fierce conviction. "Listen to me Isabella. You and your brother mean everything to me and I will never leave you, you never have to worry about that. I'll be with you always."

"Forever and ever?" I asked, my mood brightening.

"And always," He swore kissing my cheek lightly, his mustache tickling me.

I eyed him skeptically as I lifted my tiny hand in the air before him and forced my pinky to stand straight. "Pinky promise?"

My father laughed, still broken but sounding better, as he lifted his hand to mine and linked his pinky with mine, the way Peter did, the same way he'd taught me. "Nobody can break their pinky promise", he'd said, so I knew my father meant what he was saying, Peter would never lie to me. "Pinky promise. I love you kiddo."

"I love you too daddy." I said with the brightest smile I could make. It seemed to make him happy, and that made me happy.

"Now," He sighed. "It's late, and I think you should be getting to bed."

"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" I asked as if the previous conversation hadn't happened. Not out of ignorance, but innocence. I was only five.

"No." He laughed. "How 'bout me you and Pete, stay home, eat junk food, and watch movies, how does that sound?"

"Good." I giggled. "Can we watch the Laberynt… uh, what's it called again?"

"The Labyrinth?"

"Yeah that one," I nodded. "I love that one."

"Okay, we can watch that," He sounded unsure, but looking back on it, I'm sure that was because I'd made him watch it repeatedly.

"Oh, and Peter will want to watch… Crash of the Titans?" I said, knowing that we couldn't forget about Peter.

"Okay, the Labyrinth and Clash of the Titans it is." My father laughed at my mispronunciation, "Anything else?"

I thought for a moment, but came up blank, and then another thought struck me. "What about you? What do you want to watch daddy?"

"Um," My father sat in thought. "That's a tough question kiddo, maybe The Cowboys with John Wayne."

"Is that a good movie?" I asked curiously.

"It's a classic" My father replied with a smile. "You'll see, but first, bedtime."

"Okay," I sighed. "Will you carry me, I don't want to fall again."

"Of course," My father said, lifting me from the couch as he headed towards the stairs. "But remember, I won't always be able to carry you 'cause one day you'll be to big, but I promise that I'll always be there to pick you back up."

It was then in that moment that I'd realized that I didn't need my mother, because I'd always have my father, and he was the best father I could had ever asked for.

I remember when I was thirteen. The eight years since the night my mother had left had been great. Not because she left, but because it brought Peter my father and myself closer. We'd always been close, but ever since then we had formed a bond that was unbreakable. I'd never seen my father cry again after that night, but I could see the sadness in his eyes on the days that her leaving had mattered the most, like birthdays, holidays, and February twenty-fifth, the day she left, and on those days, I'd see that same look I'd seen that night, that angry, hurt, resentful, look. He had never once broken his promise though. He never left us, and as I got too big for him to carry he was always there to pick me back up when I fell. It had only taken six months after she'd left for him to pull himself back together but when he did he was a force, much stronger than he was both on that night and before it. I'd always wandered where that strength had came from and when I'd finally asked him, he smiled and told me that he wasn't strong on his own, but that his love for me and my brother made him strong, and that as long as he loved us and we loved him he would be strong. I never forgot that, I just wished that I understood it. I loved him and my brother more than anything yet still, I didn't feel strong. I was still quiet, not in a meek, antisocial way, but I'd just never felt the need to be the center of attention by being loud and outgoing. I was… content. I preferred a good book to a movie; I enjoyed the silent comfort of solitary, and preferred it to being in a room full of people. So much to Charlie and Peter's relief, I was never one for parties. I excelled in all of my classes and was accepted by most as both Chief Swan's daughter and Peter Lehane's younger sister. Of course some students could never understand how we were related because we looked nothing alike and have different last names. The answer was simple enough, but we just never saw reason to elaborate. Peter was my half brother, my mother had him two years before she met my father, and when her and my father married, he adopted Peter and six years later, they had me. It never mattered though, as far as Peter was concerned, Charlie was his father, and as far as Charlie was concerned, Peter was his son, and that only became truer when my mother left him with my father when she disappeared from our lives.

Peter, having been older had taken her absence the worst. He was still the lively soul he'd always been but he'd matured a lot in a short time. He took it upon himself to look after me a lot more than before, to prepare me for the world. He was a lot older and knew many things before I did, so he made it a point to teach me the things my mother should had. He was the one to talk to me about my period, which I had just started; he'd read up on it and had even gone as far as to talk to one of the nurses at the local hospital to know what to expect, that conversation was awkward but less so than it would had been if it had been Charlie. Being older, at eighteen, Peter had, had several girlfriends in different relationships and had an intimate relationship with one of them, thus, the sex talk, which wasn't so bad. Not bad, in the sense of how he explained things, bad, in the sense that I'd never wanted to have that talk with my brother at just thirteen years old, or ever for that matter, but that was Peter's way. He was always preparing me for what was to come, like peer pressure, or bullying, which I'd fortunately never had to face because of who my brother was, both because he was my protector and because he'd taken it upon himself to teach me to fight. I'm no prize fighter, but my brother taught me that if I think I'm going down, to fight dirty, and to never let anyone hurt me without hurting them just as much. I love my brother, as crazy as he was, and I appreciated everything he'd ever done for me, even more so when reality set in. Life had been great, but as always, things change, it doesn't always make life less or more better, but it does make things complicated. As Peter was both popular, in the respect that he not only played basketball on the high school team, was every girl in school's crush, and got along with just about everyone without discrimination of cliques, he was also one hell of a student. I always admired his ability to learn things so quickly, so sure that he was just one of those natural academically gifted people, but he'd always said that he just pays really close attention to detail, and would joke that the only reason he did was so he would be able to keep up with me, and would call me, 'Bella the Brain' a nickname I'm still not fond of. So through Peter's intelligence, he graduated with a 4.0 G.P.A. and was granted a scholarship to go to the college of his choice, which just so happened to be in New York, all the way across the country.

I was happy for my brother, and more proud than I can even define, but I was also saddened beyond measure. There I was, thirteen years old, loving every aspect of my life, and basking in it's complete and total greatness, only to have the rug pulled out from underneath me and the sinking pit that was my reality dragged me down so far that I almost couldn't breathe. My brother, being older, had gone to parties, met new people, made new friends but he was always… there. Not more than a short drive, a phone call, or just down the hall. He was always close, and the thought of losing that caused an aching pain in my chest, and for the first time since my mother left, I truly understood what my father and Peter felt that night, the empty, cold, loss, that my young mind had been free of before. It was like losing a part of yourself, and my mind went wild with the thought that I'd never see him again. Would he not want to come back once he was out in the world, would something bad happen to him, would he be lonely, I'd asked myself. I hate to say I'd became closed off with me fears, and had we not been so close, it would had been overlooked, but since we were close, my father and Peter noticed almost instantly. Peter had come into my room one morning and told me to get dressed. I'd asked him why, and he'd said that we were going out. I'd asked where, and he didn't reply, he just left the room. So I'd dressed quickly and met him downstairs, where he was waiting with a determined look on his face.

"Come on." He said, and I remember feeling nervous, but not knowing why. So, without so much as a word, I followed my brother out to his car, climbed into the passenger seat and sat quietly as he drove. I wasn't sure where we were going, and was too nervous to ask, so I stayed quiet as we drove the three-hour drive from Forks to Seattle, which only furthered my confusion. He found a parking spot on the street, stopped, and cut the engine, before turning to me and giving me a small smile, and climbing out of the car.

"What are we doing here Peter?" I asked as he opened the passenger door and helped me out of the car and onto the sidewalk.

"I want you to see something." Was his simple reply and after that, we began to walk. We walked and walked, and before I knew it we were in the exact same spot where the picture that used to sit on the mantle was taken.

"Why?" I asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"So you remember?" He asked softly. "This place I mean. You remember being here?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Okay," He said thoughtfully. "Do you remember how you felt the last time we were here?"

"Happy." I whispered, but he heard me.

He remained quiet for a moment, looking around at the scenery that hadn't changed much in the last eight years, before turning back to face me. "I come here sometimes… not often or anything, just sometimes, and I wonder, why. She was so happy that day, I remember it, I was having so much fun, and I just wanted to see everything, but I could still see you guys, and that happiness, it was on all of our faces Bells. I sometimes wonder if it was all a lie, like she was never really happy, you know, like she was faking it, but then I remember the look on her face and I just don't know how a person could fake that. "

"What are saying Peter?" I asked.

"That's just it," He said shaking his head, frustrated. "I don't know, I've never known, and that's what gets to me. I don't understand how anyone who was truly happy could do what she did, just leave like that without so much as saying goodbye to the people she claimed to love. I don't understand it, I could never do something like that, not to you, not to dad, and I just… wouldn't."

"But you are leaving me," I cried, unable to stop myself.

"Not forever Bells," He answered instantly, and from his lack of shock at my words, I knew that he'd already figured out what had been bothering me. He did know me better than anyone else. "Never forever, I'm just going to college, I'll be back, and you'll see me every holiday, and in the summer, and I'll be back every year on your birthday, I'd never miss it."

"But it's not the same."

"I know," He breathed. "It's different but I've always told you that as you grow, things will change, but that will never keep us apart, and I will always love you. One day, you'll go away to college, does that mean that you'll love me and dad any less?"

"No," When he put it that way, it made sense, but I would still miss him. "But what if I need you, or you need me, what then, you'll be so far away."

"Never farther than a phone call, I promise."

I shook my head lightly. "I know I'm being stupid, but I'm going to miss you, you've always been right down the hall, and now…"

"Your not being stupid Bells," Peter defended. "If you are than I am to, 'cause whether you believe it or not, I am going to miss you and I swear that we'll talk so much on the phone that it would be like I wasn't gone at all."

"I doubt that last part," I laughed, and he did as well. "But I believe you, you've never lied to me, but your not just my brother, you're my best friend, and I love dad but he's not as funny as you."

Peter laughed through his tears. "But you've got to give him effort for trying. Here's the deal if you promise me that you'll be happy, I'll tell you a different joke every time we talk, that way you can think of them and laugh, so that dad really thinks your laughing at his jokes, that way, everybody's happy."

I laughed a genuine laugh and nodded. "I don't know if I can keep that promise for now, but I can promise you that I'll try."

"That's all I ask," Peter pulled me into a warm hug, the only way he could. "It'll all be fine Bells, I swear, but I need you to always remember that you are the most important person to me, I love you and dad more than anything but you are my baby sister, and nothing and nobody will ever take your place in my heart, do you understand?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"You sure," He asked with playful skepticism before lifting his hand with his pinky out. "Pinky promise?"

I lifted my own hand and laced my pinky with his. "Pinky promise."

"I love you sis." Peter said, his words ringing with honesty.

I smiled, with a small hiccup through my tears. "I love you too big brother."

As with everything, Peter kept his promise. He called almost every day, with some random joke at the ready, but they were always funny. Dad and I never went Christmas, Thanksgiving, spring break, or summer without seeing him, and even though he had to rearrange his schedule and do make-up assignments, he never once missed my birthday. Even after he graduated college and decided to stay in New York. I was a bit sad when he'd told me, but having spent four years living away from each other I'd learned that no matter what I'd still see him, but I'd secretly hoped that he'd at least move to Seattle since it was closer and that was where I'd planned to go to college, since I was just a year away from graduating and it was still close enough to Charlie to where I could come by the house and cook for him as often as possible so he wouldn't starve. Peter was excited though, and I understood, he'd spent the last four years working towards a career and was offered one right out of college, and just couldn't turn it down. I did feel bad for him though, after awhile, he still called, still came down for holidays and birthdays, but I could tell he wasn't exactly happy. The job wasn't all he'd hoped it would be, but being Peter, his stuck it out and just went with it, hoping that things would improve.

All the while things were still just about the same at home. Charlie worked, came home, ate, watched football, and slept, just to repeat the process the next day, but he did still reserve moments for himself. Whether it was fishing with his friend Billy from the La Push reservation on the weekends, or having our father daughter night, every Friday, when we'd go out to eat and joke about our weeks. I'd talk about my truck, an old red beat up truck that he'd bought me and I loved, I'd talk about my knew job at the local bookstore, which I loved, because it gave me a chance to both make money and read when we didn't have any customers, and gave me an excuse as to why I didn't go to any parties. Seeing as how I was almost eighteen, my body had long since filled out, much to Charlie's and Peter's worry, I had started to gain more and more attention from the boys at school than I would had liked, but fortunately for Charlie and Peter, I was still the same old me, and the idea of dating wasn't all that appealing to me. So I worked and I studied and like my brother before me, I was at the top in my class, keeping a steady 4.0 G.P.A. which dad always praised me for. Once again, life was great, different, but great.

If only I'd known then that it would all fall apart just two short years later.

Two years was all it took for everything to come crashing down. I'd lived my life within those two years about the same as before, but different. I continued to work at the bookstore, finished out my final year of high school, graduated top of my class, and spent my summer spending as much time as I could with Charlie before I started me first year of college in Seattle. It was fun and it was new, I didn't enjoy the dorms so much but I spent so much time in class it was like going back to my room to sleep, just to start another day, and I spent my weekends back home with Charlie. I'd leave Friday after my classes and drive my old truck for three hours til I reached Forks. Sometimes he'd stay home for the weekends and sometimes he'd go fishing with Billy, but it didn't matter to me, as long as he was close, I was okay.

I remember the day. I'd never forget it, how could I. It wasn't just the worst day of my life, it was February twenty-fifth, exactly fourteen years; five thousand, two hundred and ten days, to the day that my mother left that I got the call. I had just left my contemporary humanities class and was heading back to the dorms when my phone rang. I wasn't familiar with the number so I hesitated before answering. I flipped open my phone and pressed down on the send key before lifting the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Isabella Swan?" An unfamiliar male voice asked in a formal tone.

"Yes," I answered nervously. Something about his tone put me on edge.

The man sighed before speaking. "Well Ms. Swan, I'm officer Hendricks of the Seattle Police Department and I was given your number to contact you. There's been an incident regarding a Charles Swan and were going to need you to come into the station."

I swear my heart stopped beating but somehow I was still able to ask. "That's my father, is… is everything alright, is he okay?"

"I'm gonna need you to come into the station and we can discuss this then." He said, still formal.

"Please," I begged. "Just tell me, is he… is he okay."

The man sighed again. If I hadn't of already figured it out that would have been the clue I needed. "I hate to have to be the one to tell you this Ms. Swan, but your father is dead."

The officer's voice still spoke through the phone, but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I lost all sense of thought and reason. I think I may have been hyperventilating, but I can't be sure. My ears rung and my vision blurred, as I stood frozen in front of the dorm building. It was like I wasn't even there anymore, but I wasn't anywhere else either. I was just a body. I was empty.

"Ma'am, ma'am. Ms. Swan?" The officer called through the phone. My vision cleared, my hearing returned, but I was still just a body, the soul was gone.

"Yes," My own voice sounded foreign to my ears, more… robotic.

"I said that we need you to come down to the station. From there we need to head to the coroners so we can identify the body." Officer Hendricks sounded apologetic, but it didn't help, nothing could.

"I'll be there soon." I answered in that same robotic tone.

"Okay." He replied. "I'm sorry for your loss Ms. Swan."

"Yeah," I said snapping the phone shut. After that, everything is a blur. I remember somehow finding my car and driving the twenty minute drive to the Seattle Police Department, I remember talking to a man that I think was officer Hendricks, and two detectives. From there we headed down to the morgue where I identified Charlie's body, crushing my hopes that it had been some sort of mistake and that it wasn't actually him, but it was, the only difference to his appearance were the two bullet holes in his chest. I'm not sure if I cried or not, but I remember screaming when the detectives told me that my fathers' body had been found in an alley not thirty minutes away from my school, where I'd been listening to a lecture while my father was being shot and killed. I remember the detective telling me that they believed that my father had been mugged, since his wallet was missing, but whoever had done it had left his I.D. behind. I remember shouting at them, telling them that there was no reason for my father to be in Seattle since he lived in Forks. They told me that he must have been coming to see me, and I remember feeling guilty before reasoning that he knew I'd be home on Friday like I always was and that even if he were to come see me, he wouldn't have needed to be on that side of town. From there, they proceeded to ask me if my father had any friends in Seattle, if he had a girlfriend or might have had a secret girlfriend. I answered, 'no' to each question and they said that was all they needed to know before they could launch a further investigation. I asked officer Hendricks if someone had contacted my brother, and he said no. So I shakily pulled my phone from my pocket, flipped it open and pressed and held the number three, which was Peter's number on my speed dial, my voicemail being number one, and Charlie being number two. I lift my phone to my ear and counted off the number of rings. One, two…

"Hey Bells, I'm sorry I forgot to call yesterday, things were hectic at work and then I went out with that girl I told you about. That was a complete bust, the girl was crazy and I don't mean that in a good way." Peter answered quickly and I cried at the sound of his voice. "Bells what's wrong?"

"Peter," I cried. "Dad's dead."

"What," Peter asked in a hushed tone. He'd heard me, but like me, he didn't want to believe me. "What do you mean, Bells, wha… how, why?"

"He was shot," I whispered. "They found his body in an alley here in Seattle, and I had to identify him… he was so pale."

"Fuck," Peter shouted through the phone, before his voice took on a ragged tone. "Fuck, what was he doing in Seattle Bells, why didn't anybody call me before, you shouldn't of had to see him like that, shit, where are you?"

"I don't know," I sobbed. "They thought that he was here to see me but I told them that was impossible because I see him every weekend and he was found on the other side of the city, and I just found out that they hadn't called you and that's why I did. I'm at the Seattle Police Department, right now, but I think I might stay here and see if they find something… I really don't want to go back to the dorms right now."

"That's okay you don't have to," Peter said worried. "Just sit tight, stay there, and I'll be on the first flight out and I'll be there in five hours, six at the latest."

"Okay," I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"I love you sis." He said in a broken whisper.

"I love you too big brother."

"We'll get through this, I promise." That was the last thing he said before hanging up.

I think I fell asleep at some point, that or I was just completely out of it, but when I came to, officer Hendricks and the detectives hadn't found anything. I must have been out of it for longer than I thought because after I spoke to them and saw the time on the clock I found that it was already morning, and not an hour later, Peter raced into the Police station, and like all those years before, we held each other as we cried.

The following months were the hardest. Charlie's funeral came and went, many people came and spoke of how amazing he was and extended their sympathies. Peter spoke, I couldn't, I just sat there, waiting for it to be over. I was falling and I needed my father to pick me up like he always had, but he couldn't. He was gone, he was the only person who could make everything better and he was the reason Peter and I were grieving. Following the funeral, Peter had taken his vacation time off of work and I had all but dropped out of school, making my scholarship practically useless as I worked to reconstruct my damaged mental state. I was lucky to have Peter though; I never would have made it without him. Everyday we pushed each other a little bit further, not wanting to see the other fall apart, and as the days, weeks, and months, passed life got easier, not better, not okay, but easier.

One night when Peter and I were sitting in front of the fireplace, he told me that he wasn't happy in New York anymore, and that he regrets being so far away when I need him. I told him that he shouldn't feel bad, and that even if he'd been far away he came home like he always did when I needed him. He told me that I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore, and when I asked him what he meant, he told me that he'd quit his job the day before, and short of going back to New York to get his belongings, he was staying for good. I hugged him tightly and told him I loved him. He replied the same and told me that he'd never go so far away again.

That night on, things changed, like they had so many times before. I started working again, at the bookstore. The owner, Ms. Cope was ecstatic to have me back even if I'd only be working weekends once the school year started. As far as school went I knew I couldn't go back to my former school, even if Peter offered to pay for it, it just wouldn't have felt right, and to be honest, I wasn't to sure if I could be away from home for too long. Forks had two colleges, Peninsula College, and University of Washington, but neither of them had much to offer, since they were so small, so I decided to go to Peninsula College in Port Angeles on East Lauridsen Boulevard. It had a decent campus and an excellent English program and was just an hour away from Forks so I would be able to continue to live at home. The change was a bit tougher for Peter. He could get hired anywhere, but there wasn't much to do in Forks, so he had to branch out, and ultimately, he ended up in Seattle. He'd gotten a temporary office position in a company not far from my old school and at first; he would make the three-hour commute from Forks to Seattle, but when that got to hard to do, he got an apartment out there. He didn't want to, he had to, and I understood. Besides, a three-hour drive was a lot better than a five to eight hour flight, distance wise. He always came over to the house, though, every day off, it was like he still lived there with me. Life was just starting to get back on track. Slowly but surely, things were coming around.

So that brings me to where I am now. Twenty-one years old, in my final year of college and that much closer to earning my degree in English, not that I had the slightest clue what I would be doing with it but it was something to have it. Peter is still living in Seattle and just got a new job doing something I'm not entirely sure I want to know about. He seems like he's happy though, and to me, that's all that matters. We never found out anything more about out fathers death or had any idea as to who killed him, and we never knew what he was doing in Seattle. I feel like everyday is a test, some days are harder than others and some aren't so bad, but the pains still there, and I'm not to sure if I'm doing fine, or just telling myself that I am, or if things really will be okay someday, but right now, I just don't see it.

The sound of a car engine breaks me from my thoughts. It's not entirely abnormal for a car to be driving down my street, Forks isn't that small a town, but it is late and as the flash of headlights gleam across my bedroom window, I know that somebody is in my driveway. I slowly rise to my feet and make my way over to my window, and from there I can see two very unfamiliar cars in the driveway.

"What the hell?" I whisper into the air, before the sound of the front door opening and closing downstairs startles me. I jump slightly and my heartbeat accelerates. I'm not too sure of what to do, and I curse myself for not having anything that could be considered a weapon in my room. I shift nervously from on foot to another before taking light steps towards my door and into the hall. I know for a fact that there are guns in my fathers' room, but I don't go in there, I can't. The door stays closed. So I creep towards the stairs instead, hoping to hear what's going on downstairs.

"There are two extra bedrooms upstairs, and the couch pulls out into a bed, so make yourselves at home and feel free to help yourselves to anything in the fridge, but I'm telling you, my sister is one great cook." I hear Peter's voice say, but I'm curious as to whom he's talking to and why he's here.

"Where is this sister of yours?" Says a voice I'm not familiar with, but it was different, smooth, velvety, a bit edgy, but… musical.

"Peter?" I called out without thinking, as I descended the stairs, all fourteen of them, my days of falling on the last step long gone. I stepped into the living room and stopped when I saw not only my brother, but also four others. A giant of a man, with dark curly hair and the most innocent of faces, stood next to the Goddess Aphrodite herself, well, a meaner looking version of Aphrodite. Next to my brother stood a man with shiny blonde hair and enchanting blue eyes, which gave me a quick rush of Déjà vu, but my jumbled thoughts couldn't comprehend why as I looked at the last stranger, who stood before me with a dangerous look in his emerald green eyes. It was like a hunter eyeing it's prey, and as dangerous as it was, he was… beautiful. A true Adonis made flesh and standing in my living room with an unruly mess of copper, bronze hair and a sly smirk etched onto his perfect lips.

"Hey," Peter said giving me a caring hug and effectively breaking my stare, and I eyed the others curiously. Wandering what they were doing here. "We were just outside of town for work, and it got late so I suggested we all stay here, since I knew you wouldn't mind. This is my boss Carlisle, his son's, Emmett and Edward, and Rosalie. Everyone, this is my baby sister. Bella."

"Hello." I said quietly and Adonis, or Edward as my brother called him, sent me a dangerous smile, but I couldn't decipher what it meant.

This was going to be a long night.

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**_Thanks for reading. Leave a review and let me know what you thought_**

**_So… what do you think? I wanted to really show who Bella is as a person and give you a good understanding of how her mind works. She's not too attuned to her emotions so she overanalyzes them sometimes. I also wanted to capture a lighter more innocent emotion for how Bella remembers her mother leaving, only to understand the feeling of loss years later, and to also capture Charlie's pain, while both being himself, a man that who just lost his wife, (for reasons that will be revealed in later chapters) and as a father, trying to be strong for his daughter. I also saw Peter as the ultimate big brother, so I tried to work that in, so that, where as he may not always be perfect, he is in Bella's eyes._**

**_It's weird; I have no clue where the whole eight-year space between each selective memory happened but somehow I just wrote it that way._**

**_The "Labyrinth" and "Clash of the Titan's" are two movies I watched religiously as a kid, along with "Big Trouble in Little China". However, I haven't seen "The Cowboys" but my mother said that it was a classic. –Laughs-_**

**_Til the next chapter…_**

**_Daba91_**


	5. Paralyzer

_**So it has definitely been a while since I last posted and for that I am so sorry, but life's crazy, what can you do, right? I would like to thank anyone who has read this story, and those of you who reviewed and added this story to their favorites and alerts while I was absent from writing, I really appreciate that.**_

_**So this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter, I started the first part of it back before I lost the time to write and the rest was worked in later, so I tried my best to follow the original idea, while also changing a few things along the way I also cut a few things out to use for later. So this chapter has Edward/Bella but they're still at a safe distance as I want their relationship to build slowly, since that is what would fit the character's best given the way that I've written them so far. Even so, I hope you like it.**_

_**The song for this chapter is "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven**_

_**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended**_

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CH.4

_**Bella's P.O.V.**_

Paralyzer

The earlier part of my day had gone by pretty well, for the most part, but now I was just downright confused. Here I was standing in my kitchen, preparing a meal, for four complete strangers, whom my brother worked with, and I couldn't get one of them out of my head. Edward, his name was, and in the twenty minutes since he'd came into my home, I hadn't spoken to him once but I was completely and totally enthralled by him, which for me was way out of character. I just wasn't that girl. I've never dated, I don't have crushes, and I wouldn't even know what to do with one if I did. Not that I could call this a crush, I was just, fascinated by him. In all my years I've never seen anyone who looked so amazingly beautiful, yet so… dangerous, at the same time. This man was an anomaly, and that had to be why I couldn't stop thinking about him. I always liked puzzles, and maybe that's what he was, a puzzle. A dangerously good looking puzzle, but a puzzle non-the less. So maybe if I spoke with him and learned a bit about him, I'd sate my curiosity and stop thinking about him. Or maybe if I'm lucky he'll open his mouth and say something completely arrogant, then he'll repulse me and I can go on with my average, boring, and pseudo happy existence.

"Bells?" My brothers' voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"What…" I jumped in surprise.

"Are you okay?" He asked, fixing me with a concerned look. "You seem kind of out of it, and you look sort of pale, well, more pale than usual."

"Oh, I'm fine." I lied.

"You sure?" He asked disbelieving.

"Yeah," I lied again. "I'm just tired; it's been a long day."

"Work?" he pressed.

"Among other things," I answered vaguely. "But really I'm fine."

"Okay, if you say so," He sighed before asking. "So… what are you making?"

"Your fav," I answered sweetly.

His eyes lit with excitement, "Tacos?"

"No, macaroni n cheese," I joked sarcastically. "Of course I'm making tacos, unless you have a new favorite food."

"Nope," He laughed.

"God, it's scary how excited you are about this, I mean it's nice an all that you love my cooking, but now I'm gonna be afraid to send you back to Seattle, in fear that you won't get fed. Maybe you should just go and meet yourself a nice girl and settle down so she can cook for you." I breathed, dramatically.

"Among other things," He smirked.

"Eww," I cringed, didn't need the visual.

"Well I promise that if I'm really, really hungry, and I haven't married a nice girl yet, I'll make the long drive up here for my meals." He played along.

"Well that's good," I spoke in my innocent voice. "Cause' you know you are looking kind of thin, and an anorexic male is just not cool with the ladies."

"Spilling trade secrets," He stated in mock astonishment. "Isn't that against girl code or something?"

"I wouldn't know." I answered truthfully.

"Ah, still avoiding the masses?" he questioned, his tone becoming serious.

"Not intentionally."

"But you are," He said somewhat to himself. "So you don't have a boyfriend then?"

I laughed, and threw him an, 'are you serious' look. "When would I have found the time to find a boyfriend since the last time we spoke on the phone?"

"You're a beautiful girl sis, these things happen." He said in a matter of fact tone.

"Not to me."

"But it could, and when it does, I would like to know so that I can finally do the big brother thing and threaten the guy with the loss of his carrot and radishes if he ever so much as thinks about hurting my baby sis." Peter said in all seriousness.

"Did you seriously just say carrot and radishes?" I chuckled.

He shrugged, "Yeah."

"That's a weird name to call it." I mused

"Yeah, it's actually one of the names that dad came up with when he was trying to figure out what was safe to say around you as a kid, of course that one didn't take, and well, neither did hot dog and meatballs, but then again, I think I came up with that one." He laughed lightly at a memory of his own.

"Weird," I thought aloud. "Well than what did you guys finally come up with?"

"Nothing for dad, he just didn't speak on the matter," he laughed harder. "And me, well, I just ended up saying little Pete and the twins."

I laughed at that. "I always wondered why you'd say that."

"You could have just asked?"

"I think that was a conversation, that couldn't of have happened before today." I said, shaking my head at the insanity of it all.

"Ah, no conversation is taboo." Peter argued.

"Huh," I chortled. "Remember you said that when I start dating some guy who's into kinky, rough, Dom and Sub, sex."

"Ahh," Peter said jumping back, lifting his arm in the air as if to defend himself from the words. "Whoa, whoa, that's just not right Bell's, you're my little sister, I don't want to be haunted with those types of images."

"No conversation is taboo?" I asked, throwing his, own words back at him.

"Within reason," He amended

A loud laugh pulled our attention towards the kitchen entryway, where Peter's new boss and coworkers stood. Carlisle wore a tight smile, Emmett was still laughing, Rosalie was just staring, and Edward, well, he was still smirking that damn smirk.

"Uh hi," I smiled lightly. "Dinner's almost ready."

"It smells wonderful Bella." Carlisle spoke kindly.

"Thank you Mr. Cullen." I blushed.

"Carlisle," He corrected.

"Carlisle," I blushed harder.

"Yeah, Pete here said you were a good cook," Emmett grinned. "I hope he was right, cause' I'll tell ya, I'm a tough critic when it comes to all things food."

"You don't look too picky." I chuckled, earning a smile from him.

"Not picky," He defended. "I just like to enjoy the things I eat. I'm a growing boy."

"You get any bigger and we can make you into a circus attraction." Edward said and his smooth voice warmed my ears, proving that my earlier resolution would be harder to follow through with than I thought.

"Can it, 'Copper Top'." Emmett fired back.

"Boy's," Carlisle chided. "Behave yourselves; Bella here isn't used to your humorous banter and we don't want to make her uncomfortable in her own home now do we?"

"No Sir," Emmett answered, giving me an apologetic smile.

"I wouldn't dream of making her, 'uncomfortable'," Edward said somewhat suggestively, throwing me off once more.

"It's okay Carlisle," I waved it off. "You've obviously just seen how Peter and I talk so I understand totally."

"Trust me Bella, you wouldn't be saying that if you were forced to live with them," Carlisle breathed. "I must say that it's nice to see that you two are so close. It's good to have those types of relationships."

"Yeah," I sighed. "He's a dork an all, but I love him."

"Hey," Peter scolded playfully. "If anyone in this room is a dork… it's Emmett."

"Why do I have to be the dork?" Emmett asked, insulted.

"Because you were dumb enough to ask," Rosalie muttered as she elbowed him in the ribs, seemingly hard, but he didn't seem to mind, and as she spoke my attention, instantly caught sight of the end of her shirt sleeve, that had dried blood on it.

I must have been staring longer than I thought because Rosalie tucked in her sleeve and Edward cleared his throat. My eyes shot to his and he gave me a hard look, as if he were looking for something, and as I pulled my gaze away from him, I realized that the others were giving me the same look. I forced a quick smile and turned my attention back to the food. I grabbed the cheese grater and began shredding cheese into a bowl, taking note of how silent the room had become.

Carlisle cleared his throat as Edward had just seconds before. I turned to him and he spoke, "Rosalie cut her hand on a bottle on the way here. She had it wrapped but it appears to be seeping, do you happen to have any gauze or band-aids?"

I looked at Carlisle for only a moment, but long enough to let him know that I wasn't falling for it but that I would play along. I then turned to Rosalie and gave her a tight smile, "Bathroom cabinet, upstairs, last door at the end of the hall."

"Thanks," She sounded bored, as her and Emmett left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

"So… um, Bells, do you need me to set the table or anything?" Peter asked, trying to avoid more awkwardness.

"Yeah, Peter, that would be great," I said, playing along, "The meat's done, cheese is grated, sides are ready, I just need to make the shells and it'll be ready to serve."

"Okay cool." He quickly set to work, grabbing a stack of plates from the cabinet and disappearing out of the kitchen and into the dining room, returning once for cups, and then again for silverware. All the while Edward and Carlisle remained in the kitchen, neither speaking. I had my back turned to them, so I couldn't see what they were doing exactly, but I had this strange feeling that there was some sort of odd silent conversation going on behind me.

"Alright," Peter announced, coming back into the kitchen. "Table's set."

I used the tongs to pull the last taco shell from the frying pan and carefully set it down on the plate with the others I had made. "Diner's ready."

"That is just what I like to hear." Emmett sang when he and Rosalie returned to the kitchen. I stole a quick glance at her wrist, and could see lazily wrapped gauze tied around it, but there were still no signs of blood other than what was on her sleeve.

"All better." She said, shortly, fixing me with an annoyed look, having caught me inspecting her 'injury'.

"I'm glad." I smiled as kindly as I could.

Having known me so well, Peter nudged my shoulder lightly, silently telling me to 'let it go' before speaking. "Let's eat, yea?"

Peter exited the kitchen, along with Carlisle, Rosalie, and Emmett, while I got everything ready to move into the dining room.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Edward spoke from behind me, his voice sounding rather close.

"What?" I breathed as I turned around and found him standing just a few inches away from me.

He smirked wickedly, and leaned forward, so close that I could feel his warm breath against my face as he spoke. "I asked if there was anything I can help with."

"Um… no, I think I got it, thanks." My voice was as unsteady and unsure as my mind. This man made me nervous and I'm not entirely certain on whether or not that was a bad thing. I mean… it didn't necessarily feel bad, it actually, kind of felt good.

He stared into my eyes for a moment longer with a heavy gaze, and his eyes darkened before they pulled away and swept across the length of my body in a way that no other pair of eyes had done before. "Are you absolutely sure about that. There isn't _anything_ I can help you with?"

"Um," I squeaked, turning my back towards him, looking for anything to use as a distraction. "Actually is you could carry the bowl of meat to the dining room that would be great."

He chuckled darkly before reaching passed me to grab the bowl, pausing once he had hold of it. I still had my back to him, but I could feel his body pressed against mine, and I would be lying if I said that it didn't feel… good.

"Mm, looks delicious," He moaned behind me, causing my body to shiver. I was sure that he was referring to the tacos but what he did next confused me. He brought his face dangerously close to my neck and breathed in, then spoke. "Mm, smells delicious too."

My whole body tensed up, but not from fear, but from this odd sensual feeling I wasn't the slightest bit familiar with. My breathing came out short and uneven and I felt strangely aware of… everything, especially when he'd left the kitchen in the direction of the dining room. What was happing to me?

"Uh, Bells?" Peter asked, popping his head into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" I asked quickly.

"You okay?" He asked, "You look flushed?"

I tried desperately to hide the blush that burned my cheeks. "I'm fine, just a little light headed; I just need to eat something."

He nodded slowly. "Okay, well then come on, let's get to eating"

I'd followed Peter into the dining room and we'd sat down to eat. Diner passed fairly quickly, and was mildly entertaining as Emmett and Peter filled the table with random and crazy stories, gaining a few laughs from each of us, sans Rosalie and Edward. Rosalie just sort of sat there, and Edward… well, I wasn't entirely sure what he was doing as I avoided any and all eye contact with him, but I swear there were times at dinner when I could feel his gaze on me. I warmed me.

After dinner, Peter showed everyone to where they'd be sleeping, and I'd said my goodnights before disappearing upstairs. I didn't want to have another run in with Edward, not while I was still so confused as to why he made me feel so strange. However, right before I changed into my night clothes, I remembered that Peter had told Carlisle to sleep in Dad's room, and a thought struck me. Exiting me bedroom, I walked over to the closet across the hall and grabbed a large blue blanket from it, before making my way towards my father's old room and finding the door open and Carlisle standing next to the bed, sifting through a large black duffle bag.

"Carlisle…" I called out to him from where I stood in the doorway of what was once my father's bedroom. The invisible wall that kept me from entering was still there, just as strong as ever, and my legs wouldn't budge so much as one step further.

Carlisle turned from where he stood at the end of the bed, smiling warmly at me, "Yes Bella?"

I hesitated for a moment. Looking into this man's eyes, I couldn't help but feel at ease, but there was still this nagging feeling in my gut that I knew this man from somewhere, but for the life of me, I just couldn't place it. I shook my head of my thoughts, holding out the blanket that I'd brought him, "Uhm, I brought this for you, it's a second blanket, this was always the coldest room in the house, and although my dad never really seemed to mind, I didn't know if you would, and if you don't, you don't have to use it, you could just leave it on the night stand, but if you do… well…"

Embarrassed by my ramblings, I blushed red, and stopped talking. Fortunately, Carlisle took pity on me and continued to smile while reaching out his hand for the blanket; unaware of the fact that rambling was not my only problem. My eyes glossed over slightly, and I smiled apologetically, hoping he would understand my dilemma.

Carlisle frowned a bit before nodding in understanding. He slowly made his way over to me before reaching out his hand to take hold of the blanket, "It will pass in time," he said in a tone of certainty.

I didn't ask what he'd meant, I didn't have to. I understood him as he understood me. I nodded in thanks and he turned back towards the bed. However, I couldn't help but ask him the question that had been bugging me.

"Carlisle?"

He turned back around, "Yes?"

"I have to ask," I started slowly, taking a deep breath. "How do I know you?"

Carlisle didn't seem the least bit surprised by my question, which made me a little bit uneasy. "What makes you think you do?"

"Your eyes," I answered quickly. "They're so familiar."

Carlisle breathed and nodded, sitting himself down at the foot of the bed. "I must say I was a bit shocked when I saw that spark of recognition in your eyes downstairs. You were just a child when we'd crossed paths all those years ago. I wasn't sure you'd even saw me, let alone thought that you'd recognize me if you had."

"Seattle," I gasped, finally remembering. "You were talking to my father."

"Yes."

"Why?" I asked, thinking back on my mother's face when she'd seen him and my father talking, remembering that she wasn't too pleased about it.

"He was… a friend of mine." Carlisle replied vaguely.

"He never mentioned you." I argued, not in the rude way, just out of confusion.

Carlisle sighed, "We… lost touch, and your mother… well she wasn't too fond of me."

That had oddly made sense, and explained my mother's reaction towards him, but there was still so much I just didn't know or understand.

"Is that why you hired Peter to work for you?" I asked.

"Your brother is a very intelligent young man and very observant, which, I gather is genetic," He said and I blushed at the compliment. "So it was an easy decision to offer him a position in my 'company,' but… yes, a part of that decision was because I felt that it was the honorable thing to do in respect of your father."

I nodded, as it had all made perfect sense, yet I felt that there was still so much more that didn't make sense.

"Your business… is it?" I struggled with how to proceed, deciding that being straightforward was probably my best option. "Is it safe? For Peter I mean, is my brother safe?"

Carlisle's brow rose slightly. "I'm not sure I understand what it is your asking, Bella."

"You don't know me Carlisle," I started, determined. "And I don't know you either, but… I don't know, you commented on me being observant, you weren't wrong, and one of the things I've noticed is that you're the same way. When my brother gets a job and is shifty on the details about everything it is he does I'm going to be a little concerned, and to be honest I don't really care to know what it is he does, just that he's safe, and I know that you can see that, so please…"

Carlisle stared at me for a long moment, his eyes holding onto mine, as if he were looking for something, before nodding ever so slightly. "Yes, your brother is safe."

I released the breath I was holding, grateful for his answer. "Thank you, that's all I needed to know, I've asked him, but of course he would tell me that he's safe, I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else."

"I understand, but that is all that I will say one the matter," His tone wasn't harsh, but he'd made it clear that the conversation was over.

"Goodnight Carlisle." I spoke softly while turning down the hallway.

"Bella," Carlisle called out when I'd stepped out of view, but he knew I could still hear him. "I understand that you have questions, but not all answers are good ones. I suggest that you keep that in mind, as there is a lot you don't understand."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, and even though I didn't understand what he meant, but something in his tone, told me that I would, in time.

* * *

_**Okay, so I sort of just left that one off, but like I said, this is simply a filler chapter, as other chapters will work better with the story. I'm not really sure where the ending for this chapter actually came from as it was not in the original plan I had for this chapter, oh so many months ago, but it seemed like a good idea, so I wrote it in and now I'm just going to go with it, and focusing on Bella and Carlisle helped me buy some time with the soon to be building relationship between Bella and Edward, which I want to do right, so it will take some time, so stay tuned for that.**_

_**Also I am and will be working on "Forks," & "No One Else," as well as three new stories, which will be posted soon.**_

_**Thank you for reading; I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**Daba91**_


	6. Breathe Me

**_Thanks so much to everyone that has read, reviewed, added this story to their alerts or favs. I appreciate that and I've got so much luv for ya'll. If I haven't responded to any previous message's or reviews, I promise I will do that as soon as possible. But for now, I just wanted to get this chapter posted before True Blood comes on. (Laughs)_**

**_Quick reminder: I added an alert section to my profile, since I can only put so much on Twitter, and I like to keep you all updated on my story progress. I will be updating that tomorrow, as well as my Twitter. If you have a Twitter you should add me. I don't get to really use it often, and I'm looking to change that. Lastly, there is an author's note at the end of the chapter. I always have one for my ramblings._**

**_The song for the Chapter is Sia's "Breathe Me"_**

**_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended_**

* * *

CH.5

_**Bella's P.O.V.**_

Breathe Me

_I stand nervous under the faint gleam of the streetlight above me. The darkness is thick and I can hardly see anything past ten feet, where a wall of all consuming darkness had formed beyond the reach of the light. There's this odd feeling I have that anything beyond that point will simply cease to exist. I don't know where I am, or how I got here. It's dark, yes, but it feels open, as if I were outside. I can hear the wind, but cannot feel it; however, I know that it has touched me as it causes the white nightgown I'm wearing to billow out around me in fluid waves. It is then that I notice that I am standing barefoot in a puddle of water that had formed above the concrete ground. I stare in wonder as I try to understand the mystery surrounding my sudden loss of my senses. I could not feel the water nor could I feel the hardness of the concrete against my feet. It isn't real, it can't be. Yet, it feels as if it is the only reality I've ever known, and in that moment I feel as if I'd spent my whole life in this unknown place._

_A second streetlight comes to life before me, and is soon followed by another. It isn't enough to fight back the darkness but it allows me to step further into the mystery that is this strange place. One by one the streetlights' switched on, creating a path before me. For a moment I felt as if I were Dorothy, trailing down the yellow brick road towards my destiny in the city of Oz. However, for me, there was no Lion, no Tin Man, no Scarecrow, and no Toto. I was alone. _

_For what felt like days I walked on this trail through the darkness when finally the trail ended, and all that was left was the light above me. Unable to see anything beyond that, I felt as if I'd ended up right back where I'd started, but then, I heard what I'd thought to be voices. I couldn't be certain at first; the darkness that masked the world around me, also seemed to muffle any and all sounds, making what I'd heard almost sound like humming. But to my amazement, the darkness before me slowly began to fade away as one final light flickered on._

_I know where I am now. _

_I'm in an alley, but not just any alley. I'm in the alley were my father was shot and killed. _

"_Charles Swan." A dark voice spoke before me, and it was then that I realized that I was not alone._

_Standing under the second streetlight, was my father, standing strong and unafraid, chin up, and eyes blazing._

_A harsh breath escaped me as the shock subsided and I ran to him, "Daddy."_

_He didn't respond, or give any indication that he knew I was there, and after a moment I realized I wasn't. I couldn't have been, it had been years, and there was absolutely no way possible that this was truly happening. _

"_Do you have anything you'd wish to say?" The voice that had spoken my father's name before, asked. I'd completely forgotten that there was anyone else here, as I was so consumed with the image of my father._

"_Would it make any difference?" My father's gruff voice rang through my ears and brought tears to my eyes._

"_Probably not," The man said, and for the first time since he'd spoken, I'd realized that he'd spoken with an accent._

_I slowly turned around to face this man, this monster, but when I did I found that it was not just one man, but three. I could not see their faces, just their shapes, as they stood further out of the view of the light. Two men, stood closer, while the third stood further back, and I knew instantly that it was him who had spoken._

"_Then I guess I have nothing to say, other than, go to hell." My father spoke from behind me, his voice so frighteningly calm. I'd never heard him talk like that._

"_Pity," The man said in a disturbing, almost musical way before tilting his head towards the other two men, whom both responded by reaching into their jackets and pulling out matching 9mm and pointing them at my father._

"_No!" I shouted, but accomplished nothing. In this place, I didn't exist as anything more than a spectator of the events unfolding before me._

_Turning to take one last look at my father, I see nothing but resignation on his face. How could he look so calm and so accepting, knowing that his life was about to end? How could he, knowing that he'd never see either Peter or myself again?_

_I whip my head back around, just in time to see the men's grips tighten on their guns and watch, as if in slow motion, as they pull the triggers. Two loud bangs rip through the air, and the sound is like nothing I've ever heard before. The bullets fly towards me, so fast, yet so slow, as I close my eyes and brace myself for the impact that never comes._

_Opening my eyes I can see that I am unharmed. The two men before me merely stand there for several moments before placing their guns back inside the holsters that were shielded by their jackets and then turned back towards their leader._

_I pause momentarily before slowly turning around. A broken sob tears itself from within me as I see my father lying on the ground with two seeping holes in his chest, both close to the heart, but not quite there. He's struggling for breath and each attempt made comes out in gurgles, as he bleeds internally. _

"_Dad, no!" I cried, wishing that I could do something, anything, but knowing that I couldn't, as I was hardly more than a ghost in this twisted reality._

_I could hear one of the men approach me, standing directly behind me, but I couldn't turn to face him, I couldn't move at all, I was frozen, immobile._

_I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, and when he spoke, it made my skin crawl. "You should have left well enough alone Charles. You should have stopped searching for Didyme."_

_He lifts a gun, and at the angle of which I am standing with my back to him it is as if I am holding the gun myself._

"_No!" I scream as the deafening roar of the gun wipes away the world around me._

"No!" I scream jolting awake. I'm breathing hard and shaking and my heart is beating dangerously fast. It was a dream, just a dream; I continue to repeat to myself over and over in my head, but it had felt so real. Aside from the trail of light, the all consuming darkness, and my loss of touch, it had felt frighteningly real. But, it just didn't make any sense. I'd had dreams or nightmares if you will, about my father's death countless times. In some, I'd dreamt about him being mugged, I mean that is what happened, or at least what we believed happened. In others I'd died in his place, and sometimes I'd even dreamed that he'd survived only to have to painfully remind myself that he didn't when I'd wake up. But this, this was different, this felt real, and something about it just didn't feel right. "It wasn't real."

"What wasn't real?" I had finally gotten my breathing under control before I'd heard his voice. I sat up immediately and turned to find Edward sitting at the foot of my bed watching me curiously, and with a hint of what seemed to be concern, maybe? I didn't respond immediately, once again trying to calm my racing heart and for a moment, all I could do was stare at him. He sat before me, looking both calm and dangerous, and his posture made him look as if he were guarding something, but I couldn't think of what. It also didn't escape notice that he wasn't wearing a shirt, just a pair of black sweats. His muscled back was turned slightly towards me, showing me a side view of his impressively sculpted chest, and his strong arms flexed slightly as he turned and moved closer to me. He was… magnificent.

"What…" I stuttered, pulling my comforter up over my breasts, which although already concealed by my tank top, were still more visible than I'd felt comfortable with. Edward followed my actions with probing eyes, and smirked. "What are you doing in here?"

Edward stared at me for a moment, as if he were trying to figure something out before speaking. "I was coming back from the bathroom when I heard noises coming from in here. I was… curious… and decided to see if you were alright."

"I… uh," I released a breath. "I had a bad dream."

"Did you now?" Edward asked lightly.

"Yes." I nodded quickly.

"About?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I just couldn't. The dream was still too fresh in my head and I didn't want to relive it, and I wasn't all too sure of whether or not I wanted to tell Edward about it. My eyes met his and after a moment I simply shook my head before saying, "Nothing."

Edward remains expressionless while giving me a quick once over, before standing and leaving the room.

As my breathing finally evened out, I lie back down in an attempt to go back to sleep since it was still early and the sun hadn't even risen yet, but my many attempts at getting comfortable enough to allow my body to fall back into unconscious bliss were all unsuccessful. The images that had been seared into my brain were all so new that I feared that if went back to sleep, I would have to relive them over and over again, and that was something I just could not do.

"Shit." I breathed as I sit up and slip out of bed. I make my way over to my dresser and shuffle through the drawers as I find something to wear for the day. Grabbing my underwear, a dark pair of jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue button-up blouse, I make my way to the bathroom. Thirty minutes later, I'm showered, dressed, and heading downstairs. I see my brother often enough and we talk on the phone all the time, but I'm always sad to see him go, and today he'd be leaving, and headed back to Seattle with Carlisle and the others. So I figured that the least I can do is make him breakfast. Not to sound like such a mom, but I worry that he's not getting any home cooked meals, when he's not here.

Making my way into the kitchen, I immediately begin pulling out the various pots and pans, and then I began searching through the fridge and cabinets for all the respective ingredients, but found that I did not have everything I needed to make breakfast. If there was one thing I knew in life is that if you're going to make a big breakfast, you can't half-ass it; you have to have everything, which means that I was going to have to go to the store. I sigh and bump my head against the fridge lightly; it seems that nothing in my life was ever going to be simple, including making breakfast for my big brother.

"Something wrong?" I jump at the sound of his voice for the second time in the past hour or so. What was with this guy and appearing out of nowhere? I turn around to see Edward leaning casually in the kitchen walkway, and for the second time in the past hour or so, all I could do was stare at him while trying to calm my racing heart. I swear a heart attack is close.

Edward stands before me, showered and this time, fully clothed, which I'll admit was only slightly disappointing. He was dressed casually compared to how I'd imagined he usually dressed, wearing black slacks and a dark sweater, which although casual for him was still far too dressy for little old Forks, Washington, but hey, who was I to tell him that. His freshly dried hair was sticking out in so many different directions that I'm not even sure he'd tried to do anything with it, but oddly enough, he didn't have to, it just seemed to fit him. The dark contrast of his clothing compared to the paleness of his perfect skin made those damn eyes of his shine bright, and that feeling I'd felt so many times last night, came back full force making my knees feel weak under the intensity of his stare.

"I need to go to the store." I said dumbly, not even knowing how long I'd been staring at him.

"For?" He asked arching and eyebrow.

"Stuff…" I said slowly, "To make breakfast."

Edward looked to the window, where it had become visible that the sun had just barely began to rise, before looking back to me. "It's a bit early, don't you think?"

"I couldn't sleep." I shrugged my shoulders and looked down at the floor for just a moment before looking back at him. "What about you, you look ready to start your day. Could you not sleep either, or are you just eager to get back to civilization?"

"I don't sleep much," Edward shrugged, and then fixed me with a smirk. "And I don't know, this town doesn't seem too bad."

"Compared to the city?" I asked, not catching his double meaning.

"No place is truly better than another," He says passively.

"Do you really believe that?"

He didn't hesitate, "Absolutely."

I just didn't understand that, so I asked, "Why?"

"Why not?" He asked, and it seemed as if he enjoyed confusing me.

"You're telling me that there is not one single place in the world that you feel more at home at than anywhere else you've been?" I couldn't believe it.

"Exactly," He spoke simply.

I shook my head in disagreement, "How is that possible?"

"Why do people always wan an explanation for the things that they cannot possibly understand. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?" His words, although spoken in the same uncaring manner he'd always spoken in, cut deep, and not because they were harsh words or anything, but because the phrase, 'leave well enough alone' reminded me of what the man had said to my father in the dream, right before he'd told him that he should had stopped searching for…

"Didyme," I whispered, and although it was still only Edward and I in the kitchen, it seemed to get eerily quiet.

Edward pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against, and slowly approached me with a hard expression and fire in his eyes. "What did you just say?

"Nothing," I said softly, "It was nothing."

"You said Didyme," He repeated the name, and it was as if he was saying it to himself, other than saying it to me.

"It was just a dream," I almost whispered, and that seemed to bring him out of his silent musings. He returned his gaze to me and watched me curiously and somewhat accusingly.

"You said you needed to go to the store?" He asked, and I nodded. "Well come on then, I'll drive you."

"What?" I asked shocked. "No, you really don't have to do that, I have no problem going by myself."

"And what kind of gentleman would I be if I let a beautiful young lady such as yourself go out on her own at this hour?" He asked in a tone that said his intentions were anything but gentleman like. Wait… did he just call me beautiful?

"I go out on my own all the time," I argued pathetically. "I even live here by myself."

"That's entirely irresponsible." He smirked before turning and leaving the room, but not before calling out. "Now let's go."

I could have argued with him, I could yelled at him, asking him who the hell he thought he was trying to boss me around, I even could have stomped my foot and pouted like I'd done so many times to Peter when I didn't get my way as a child, but instead, I did nothing. I just followed him to the door, grabbed my coat and purse, and let him lead the way outside to his car. He then did something that surprised me; I think it even surprised him a little. He opened the passenger door for me. So maybe there was a little bit of gentleman in there somewhere.

"So, which way are we headed?" He asked as he climbed into his seat. I told him which way to go and we set off towards the only store I knew for a fact would be open. Cora's market, which was located right in the center of Forks, and was always open early. Cora was an old friend of my dad's who also owned a diner in town that my dad used to go to on his lunch breaks. She was a stubborn and hardworking woman who believed that a cooking emergency was just as likely as a medical emergency, and that like the hospital, she liked to have her store open at all times, much to her employees dislike. I never fully understood her logic, but my father always seemed to agree with her.

The further we drove in silence I'd thought I'd at least thank him for the ride, even if he didn't leave me with much choice, but for the sake of small talk. "Um, Edward… uh, thank you… for the ride I mean. Thank you for the ride."

"Sure." He nodded but his eyes never left the road. It was then that I'd finally taken notice to the fact that he was speeding.

"Whoa, slow down." I warned. "You're gonna get us killed."

He grinned, "I assure you Ms. Swan, we're perfectly fine."

"And the headline in the morning news reads…" I said sarcastically, which wasn't a normal reaction for me.

I could have sworn I heard him chuckle. "I said we'd be fine but if it makes you feel better, I'll slow down."

"Thank you."

"That would be the third time this morning." He mused.

"What?" I asked, confused, again.

"That you've thanked me," He turned to me momentarily. "You do that a lot."

He said that as if he were making and observation. I ignored that. "It's called being polite. It's what people usually do when someone does something for them."

"Huh," He snickered. "You'd be surprised."

I breathed out in frustration. "You have a very negative view on the world, don't you?"

"Ms. Swan," He spoke in a warning tone. "Consider it a friendly suggestion, when I tell you to 'stop' trying to figure me out. There isn't anything to find. Some people just are what they are, and there isn't any reason for that other than that is how they choose to be. You can also consider that to be a life lesson."

"Fine," I said after a moment of just watching him. I swear this man has no emotion at all. Every word he had spoken was spoken the exact same way as every other time he spoke, and would come out as either passive or mischievous. I figured he didn't want to say anymore, but as another thought struck me, I'd thought that I might as well get it out of my mind while we were both stuck in a car together. "Edward."

He sighed heavily. "Yes."

"About this morning," I start. "You know my… nightmare?"

"Yes." God it seems like the only time I can get this man to give me more than one word answers is when I annoy him.

"I was sort of hoping that you wouldn't mention it to my brother," I said quickly. "I mean it was just a bad dream, it's no big deal really, but… he worries, and he shouldn't have to."

"That's really none of my concern Ms. Swan, but if you don't want me to tell your brother than I assure you that I won't." He said in honest enough tone. "Besides, I don't know your brother all that well."

"Well, thanks anyway."

"Four times." He said lightly.

"Polite." I chided.

Once again, I could have sworn I heard him chuckle but it was far too soft, too quiet, and then he spoke. "What was it about anyway?"

"What." I asked stupidly.

He shook his head slowly, "Your… nightmare?"

"What it's always about." I said quietly, looking away.

"And what might that be." He asked.

I don't know where it came from, but the words I'd spoken next shocked me. "For someone who doesn't like when other people make observations about your behavior and ask question regarding your thoughts or lack of thought for that matter, you seem to have no problem asking other people questions about theirs."

"What other people," Once again with the smirk. "It's only you."

"Did that even make sense to you?" I asked, this man was infuriating me.

"Actually, it made perfect sense to me." He said in an almost teasing tone.

"I'll bet," I huffed, and turned away. I didn't have to say anything, I could have easily just stayed quiet and refrained from speaking entirely, but this beautiful, annoying, infuriating man, was just such a mystery to me that I thought that maybe, just maybe, by telling him, I could get some sort of reaction out of him. It didn't have to be much, just a small sign that there was just a sliver of humanity in him somewhere. Taking a deep breath, I spoke. "It was about my father, the night that he died."

"I see why that would… upset you." Aside from the fact that he was listening; there was no reaction, nothing, nada, zilch. I mean, sure, his words were nice enough, but his tone, once again, passive, and his expression, was just as blank as ever. I could have stopped right there, but of course, I kept going.

"He was mugged," I started slowly, needing to clear my throat. "It was two years ago, February twenty-fifth, and Peter was still living in New York, and I was going to school in Seattle. Um, I used to go home, pretty much every weekend, and that weekend, I was going to do the same. It was kind of are thing, me and dad, we'd just spend the weekends together, but I don't know something about this weekend was… different. I'd just left class when the officer called me to tell me that my father had been killed In what they'd believed to be a mugging, because all that was left behind… aside from his body, was his I.D. However, it just never made sense to me, I mean the officers had a theory that he'd been in Seattle to see me but that just didn't add up, it never has. He knew I was going to be home that weekend and he had no reason to be on that side of town it just doesn't make sense."

"And that's what your dream was about?" Edward asked quietly but curiously as if he needed to know something, "Him being mugged?"

"That's what it's always been about," I said discretely wiping away the tears that had fallen from my eyes, before looking at Edward, "But not this time."

"What do you mean, 'not this time'," He asked.

"This time," I breathed, not thinking about how hard this was going to be. "This time was different. This time, he wasn't being mugged, he… he was being executed."

Edward's eyes shot to mine showing the slightest hint of shock before covering it up. "Executed?"

I nodded. "Yeah, by a man with an almost musical British accent and no face. But that's not the only crazy thing."

"What's the other?"

"Before he…" I shook my head of the image, "Before he shot my father, he told him that he should have stopped searching for someone named Didyme. Crazy right, I mean, I don't even know anyone by that name."

"Yeah," Edward said after a moment of deafening silence, his eyes becoming as fiery as they were the first time I'd said the name. "Crazy…"

"So now you see why I can't let my brother know about this right?" I asked in an almost pleading tone. "He'd probably try to get me into therapy, as overprotective as he is."

"I told you that I wouldn't tell your brother," Edward assured me, though he seemed distracted. "You'll just have to trust my word."

"Your word?" I questioned, "Don't you mean that I should trust you."

Edward turned to look me dead in the eye. "I meant my word."

I didn't say anything else as we had finally reached the store, I honestly didn't even know what to say.

Pulling into the small parking lot, Edward parked the car, and before he could get out and make it to the other side of the car, I had already climbed out, much to his annoyance. There were only a few cars in the whole lot, which I'd recognized as belonging to some of the employees. Upon entering the store, I can see that it is in fact, only the employees inside, some stocking shelves, one at the register, and Cora was probably in the back. Some of these employees, I'd actually gone to high school with. I grabbed a small cart and began making my way throughout the store, with Edward following close behind me. It was sort of comical, seeing him walking around the grocery market in his slacks and sweater. He looked entirely out of his element.

It didn't take me long to get the things I needed, especially since I moved rather quickly, but I think that had more to do with the fact that neither Edward or myself spoke, or maybe because there were times where I could have sworn I'd felt him watching me, and I'd get that feeling again. So, in short, we'd quickly found ourselves at the check stand and that is where things got really funny, and by funny I mean damn ridiculous.

"Hi Bella," The sickly sweet voice of Lauren Mallory, the bane of my high school existence, rang through my ears, and I swear I could feel a headache coming on.

"Hello Lauren," I said as kindly as possible. "How are you this morning?"

She looked down right irritated but then looked past me to where Edward stood, and can you believe it, she sighed, you know that sigh that the women in romantic comedies do when they see that perfect guy, yup, that was the one, "Oh you know, can't complain."

"I'll bet," I mumbled sarcastically, and she of course, missed it.

"Bella," She dragged out in the most annoying way possible. "Introduce me to your friend."

"What friend." I couldn't help but be funny. What is up with me today?

"Forgive Ms. Swan," Edward's smooth voice nearly knocked both me and Lauren off our feet. He reached out his hand for hers, and she gladly shook it. "She's giving me the silent treatment, I'm Edward."

"Hello Edward," Lauren blushed, and I must say I was impressed, I mean senior year she slept with half the football team and at least three faculty members, and I'd never once seen her blush. "I'm Lauren."

"I saw that," He smirked, pointing at her nametag, basically showing her that he'd checked out her breasts, which only made her worse. "That's one impressive… nametag you have there."

I took that as my cue to gag. Of course, neither of them noticed.

"Why thank you Edward," Lauren hummed while leaning forward and trying to perk up her silicone filled chest.

"Can we speed this along?" I said gesturing towards the unchecked items.

"Of course," Lauren snapped as she began sliding the items across the scanner, aggressively I might add.

I turned around and gave Edward a very annoyed look, and all the bastard could do was smirk. Fortunately though, he did not engage Lauren further while she rang up the total, but he decided to find another way to piss me off by momentarily distracting me while he gave Lauren his card to pay for the groceries. By the time we had everything bagged, I was so mad that I didn't even acknowledge Lauren's attempt to get Edward's attention, I'm not even sure if he did. I all but threw the last bag into the cart and made my way outside, where the sun had finally seemed to have risen. I'm not sure if Edward spoke to Lauren or not, because it seems as if he was right behind me as he'd pressed the unlock button on his car. I didn't say a word to him as we both loaded the bags in, or when we both climbed in and set off back towards the house. It wasn't even until we were halfway there that he'd spoken.

"Have I upset you Bella?" He asked quietly.

"However do you mean?" Not taking note of the fact that he'd said Bella and not Ms. Swan.

"You aren't speaking and you look as if you want to jump out of the car," He smirked. "Not to mention the fact that you haven't once commented on how fast I'm driving. Does this have anything to do with that Lauren girl?"

"Slow the car down," I said quickly taking notice of the dangerous speed. "And no, this has nothing to do with Lauren. It has to do with the fact that you paid for my groceries and you didn't even have the decency to offer, so that I could turn you down."

"But you would have said no?" He asked

"Yes," I spoke loudly, "Because you had no right."

"I didn't think anything of it." He said simply.

"Yes, but you should have," I argued. "Look, I know you don't know me, and hey, I don't know you, but I can pay for my own groceries."

"Why are you making such a big deal about this?"

"Because what you did in there was disrespectful," I argued. "I can take care of myself, and twice today, you implied that I couldn't, maybe not verbally, but you did. You implied that I couldn't go to the market by myself and you implied that I couldn't pay for my own groceries. That is an insult to me… I can take care of myself."

"I…" He seemed like he was going to say one thing but ended up saying something else. "That was not my intention."

"Then the next time you go to the grocery store with someone. Be polite and offer so that they can decline." I reprimanded.

"Alright Ms. Swan," He nodded, "But tell me… since I did pay for your groceries, what is the polite thing for you to do."

"You've got to be kidding me," I deadpanned.

"I want to hear you say it again," He grinned. "Five is my lucky number."

"Thank you, happy now?" I rolled my eyes. He may annoy me for reasons beyond my understanding, but he sure does have charm, which he showed at the market while talking to Lauren, "Asshole."

"What was that?" He asked.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head, I'd mumbled the word 'asshole' so I'm not entirely sure he'd actually caught it. That was until I saw him smile a little half smile from the corner of my eye. Yeah, he'd heard me loud and clear.

We made it back to the house, and the rest of the drive had passed by in silence. Edward helped me unload the bags and carry them into the house. From there, I set to work on breakfast.

"Hey," Peter said in a, 'what the hell' kinda way, as he entered the kitchen. "Where were you, I woke up and you weren't here?"

"Oh, I wanted to make you breakfast before you had to leave but I didn't have everything I needed, so I had to go to the store," I answered immediately. "Edward drove me."

"Did he now?" Peter said cutting a quick, suspicious glance towards Edward.

"I didn't want your sister to be out on her own so early in the morning by herself." Edward said to Peter.

"My sister, can handle herself." Peter said through gritted teeth.

"So she tells me." Edward mused, giving me a slight bow of his head.

Peter breathed and looked back and forth between the two of us as if looking for something, but didn't seemed to find it. However, he didn't leave the kitchen the entire time I made breakfast, but neither did Edward.

"Smells good in here." Emmett's deep voice boomed while he practically bounced into the kitchen. You know, I really liked Emmett.

"Good morning Emmett," I spoke to him before noticing Rosalie at his side. "Rosalie, did you both sleep well?"

"Yes." Rosalie nodded lightly but said no more.

"I slept like a baby." Emmett said while rubbing his well toned belly. "And now I'm starving. Holy shit!

"You okay Emmett." I asked in response to the blank look on his face.

Emmett seemed to snap out of his daze, and turned to look at me with a look of pure awe, before running over and lifting me into a big hug, "Oh, you beautiful person."

"It's just food Emmett," Edward huffed. "God Rosalie, you married a fat ass."

"That's all muscle." Rosalie smirked.

"What's with all the excitement?" Carlisle asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Bella made breakfast." Peter laughed.

"She didn't just make breakfast," Emmett said indignant, making me laugh, "She made the breakfast. Look dad, eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, grits French toast, waffles, pancakes, muffins, biscuits. She made… everything."

"Well don't go getting all choked up on us." Edward snickered.

"I'm too happy to let your negativity get to me." Emmett said smiling like a damn fool. He was so adorable.

"Well then," I laughed. "Let's get you all fed before you get back on the road.

Breakfast past in a reasonably comfortable silence. Peter watched Edward warily, Edward watched me, Rose watched Emmett, annoyed, as he moaned every time he tried something different on his plate, and Carlisle just sat back and watched it all like me.

"Well Bella," Carlisle spoke as he prepared to leave, "Thank you so much for your hospitality, and for breakfast it was wonderful."

"It was so much more than that." Emmett said from where he stood a few feet away, before turning to me with a look of pure admiration. "I shall return."

I laughed lightly and gave him a quick hug before Carlisle chuckled and sighed, looking back at me. "He's one of the most intimidating men you'll ever see but he crumbles before food."

"We all have our weaknesses," Edward spoke from behind me, bringing his mouth dangerously close to my ear. "I'll be seeing you soon Bella."

He said nothing more as him, Carlisle, Emmett, and Rosalie all headed out the front door. I was stunned, but wasn't given enough time to think as Peter wrapped me into a hug.

"I'll call you when I get back, alright." Peter pulled back and smiled. "I love baby sister."

"I love you too big brother."

I followed him out the door, and waved as they all climbed into their vehicles and began to drive off. Peter waved one last time, and I absently waved back as my eyes were on Edward, who was giving me an intense stare.

Catching my breath, I stepped back inside the house and closed the door. It was my day of and I wasn't entirely sure what to do with myself, so I decided to read a book. I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, but when I got there my eyes immediately zeroed in on the black leather jacket that sat on my bed. It wasn't mine, I know it wasn't Peter's and it wasn't there before I'd started breakfast. I walked over to my bed and picked up the jacket, and when I did a small piece of paper fell to the floor. When I picked it up, I found the following written on it.

_Property of Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. If found, please contact the number below._

"Sneaky bastard," I guess I would be seeing him soon.

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**_Alright, what did you think? This chapter was classic me. Back when I started writing fanfic in the Covenant fandom, I made sure that each chapter had a little bit of everything in the drama, comedy, budding romance, etc, and this chapter kind of reminded me of that. I actually can't wait to start writing for Covenant again._**

**_Anyway… So this story is ever-changing from my original concept, or more correctly, the order is changing but the where this story is going will remain the same. I've had that planned out since before I posted this story. Also I will hopefully have chapter 2 of "No One Else" posted soon, and I am currently writing some new stories to post, but it will be a short while as I would like to be a few chapters in on both before posting them, that way I can avoid having to make you wait._**

**_Okay, so thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, or at least enjoyed it. I mean, at the very least, you got to love the Emmett humor right? (Laughs)_**

**_Much Luv!_**

_**Daba91**_


	7. Game On

_**Alright, where to begin? First, I'd like to apologize for the wait. There was a loss in the family, and then I started back up at school, so matched with relatives popping in and out of my house and assignments piling up, things have just been crazy. Fortunately though, I was able to get all of my assignments for the upcoming week done yesterday. So I was able to finally complete this chapter today. However, I do have to apologize for the chapter. It's not bad, I assure you. It's just rushed. There was a lot more detail in my outline that I had to cut in order to get this chapter out to you at a reasonable time today, especially given what today is, I'm not sure what I'll be doing later in respects to 9/11, so I promise that the next chapter will not be rushed, and that I will have it posted soon.**_

_**A shout out to all the reviewers: megentaskyy, Chiara0075, berd b, rides the beast, teenytinytwilighter, liela – k, Rosalinex5, doves1993, KATY123, westernem, aggy73, pmk kelly, MS.T3, & Colorful Cheetos. Ya'll Rock! Hope I didn't miss anyone.**_

_**Important Note: I have posted a link to my fanfic Blog on my profile. That is where I will be posting my announcements, update alerts, pics, story ideas, etc. as well as a CH.7 sneak preview, which will hopefully be posted by tomorrow, if not later today.**_

_**The song for this chapter is District 78 "Game On"**_

_**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended**_

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CH.6

_**Edward's P.O.V.**_

Game On

You know, not even twenty-four hours ago, I thought that there was nothing left in the world that could truly surprise me. The life I live, there's no room for surprise. A bullet flies right past me, I don't flinch. Someone points a gun at me, I laugh my ass off. Hell, I could have a bomb strapped to my ass, and I sure as shit can guarantee you that my heart rate won't even go up. None of that fazes me… it doesn't even register.

Same could easily be said about people. In all my life there hasn't been one singular person that I have found truly interesting. Sure my relative and extended family is made up of a unique bunch of characters, but that's just it, they're family, familiar. I find them all… entertaining in their own rights, and that's only 'cause they're far less predictable than the average red blooded American. But still, none of them have ever truly interested me, and that's due to the fact that, although they are less predictable than others, nine times out of ten, I always know their next move.

Even my father's predictable. The man carries a lifetime of secrets around with him like luggage and as I've stated before, he is always two moves ahead, but that's what makes him predictable. Family first, business second, honor, duty, no mercy, no disrespect, and just like that, you've got a detailed road map of how my father operates.

But, behold life's tiny miracles; there was one thing that seemed to slip through the cracks, or dare I say, one person. Isabella Swan was… something… something I couldn't quite put into words.

So how is it then, that some… girl, has actually managed to surprise me? The answer is that I have no fucking clue. From the moment, I first saw her, I'll admit, she was a cute little thing, beautiful even, natural. And well, I am a man who hasn't gotten laid in more days than I care to count, 1… 2… 3… damn it's was too long. So, put two and two together and you've got trouble. There was one problem though, she was shy as shit. She took one look at me, and naturally I gave her the famous Cullen smirk, but she didn't react like women usually do. If anything, she looked downright terrified.

After that a series of unusual events went down, and as there were one too many for my liking, so I'll just give you the cliff notes version.

Isabella was observant, maybe a little too observant. I swear Rose, being as prone to over exaggeration as she was, was thinking of all the ways she could kill her when Isabella caught sight of the blood on her sleeve. In Rose's defense, she was worried about exposure, but I still would have had to kill her myself had she harmed her, and had my father not diffused the situation. Yet still, all it took was one look in Isabella's eyes to show that she wasn't convinced of his lie. To that, I must say I was impressed.

And one can call me an arrogant prick all they want for the move I pulled in the kitchen, because, not only would they be right, but I just wouldn't give a fuck. This girl seemed like way too much not to play with and she was messing with my head in a big way. I wanted to see if I was having the same effect on her, 'cause she wasn't making it easy for me to get a read on what she thinking. So, I in a way, I was forced to action, and I'm glad I did. She was shy, nervous even, but damn was she responsive. Every time I got close to her, I could see her body shake, and hear the slightest sounds of her breath hitch. I made her nervous, but a part of her wanted me, and I was damn proud of the fact. Not even the mystery that was Isabella Swan was immune to the Edward Cullen charm. However, she was definitely the first to make me work to get her attention, and as much as I was enjoying the challenge, it was also annoying the hell out of me.

If I hadn't already been curious about this girl before, I definitely would have been after this morning. And before you ask, "no", I was not lurking around her bedroom, I honestly had to pee, and her bedroom was on the way to the bathroom. I just happened to be walking by when I heard noises coming from inside the room. The door was cracked, so I looked in to make sure everything was alright, and it was then that the noises grew to words, and next thing I knew, she looked like she was struggling.

Then she woke up, looking terrified and unsure of herself. I was… I don't know what I was. I felt something, but I can't name it, it was unfamiliar to me. Concern... maybe? I don't know. It doesn't matter; it was just a feeling. Feelings aren't important; they just affect people's judgments and make them do stupid things. I ignored the feeling as soon as it came, but continued to watch her. Logically I knew it was just a dream, but my instincts told me to study her and look for any signs of injury, but fortunately, there were none.

"_It wasn't real."_ She'd said, trying to assure herself, but I couldn't help but ask her what. To say she was shocked to see me in her bedroom, let alone sitting at the end of her bed would be an understatement, but I didn't care. I just watched her. Even having just awoken in terror, looking flushed, and breathing heavily, she was a sight to behold. Clearly I was looking a little too much for her liking, though, as she self-consciously lifted her comforter up over her perfect and, due to the size of her tank top, nearly exposed breasts. I smirked as she blushed red, asking me what I was doing in her room. The answer was simple, as I just told you, and she went to tell me that she'd had a nightmare. However, she remained tight lipped when it came to telling me what her nightmare had been about. I admit I was a little insulted, I'd thought we'd had a moment in the kitchen the night before, but she didn't want to tell me. So at that point, I got up and left the room, no hurt feelings, I swear.

Later on I'd found her in kitchen looking frustrated, and being the saint I'd been in the past six or seven hours, I asked her is everything was okay. Her answer wasn't what I'd expected it to be, but nothing ever was when it came to this girl. She said she needed to go to the store so that she could make breakfast, and although I'm not really one to sleep, I felt it was still a bit early for her to be out and about when the sun hadn't even risen yet, but hey, maybe things were done differently in utensil town.

After that we'd had a slight… disagreement of sorts, and I was surprised she'd even argued with me at all. Outside of my family that shit just never happened. But it was what had happened next that shocked the hell out of me, another first. The second the name "Didyme" came out of her mouth I knew that as much of a mystery as she'd been to me before, there was far more to her than I'd ever considered.

The game had changed. From that moment on, it wasn't about her simply being a new fascination for me. It was now about my need to understand exactly what the hell else she was keeping locked away in that mind of hers. So I kindly… insisted, that I go with her to the store, which I probably would have done anyway, but now I had a more serious agenda.

That trip was one for the books. She had fire to her, I'll give her that. At first I thought she was upset that I'd spoken to the Lauren girl, but then she went and surprised me by arguing with me over paying for her groceries, which I honestly hadn't thought was a big deal, but clearly it meant something to her. When she gave me her reasons as to why, I have to say, I respected her, she was independent, and not too many people are nowadays. However, like so many things about Isabella, it was just another that created both admiration and annoyance within me. She was going to drive me insane, and the most ridiculous part was that she didn't even know it.

I did catch one lucky break though, when she finally gave mention of her dream, asking me to keep it a secret from her brother. Even if I'd liked him a bit more I still wouldn't have told him, but I gave her my word just the same. I did however, make it a point to express that it was only my word that she could trust and not me. She was intelligent, observant even, but she was also naïve, and I wanted her to wise up. This was a harsh world after all.

As she continued to tell me about her dream, I pretended to be less interested than I was, and just let her talk. Her recount of her dream was definitely not what I expected. I mean, who dreams about their own father's death every night, let alone about him being executed, which struck a chord somewhere within me. I didn't like the thought of her going through that, let alone the fact that she dreamed of her father's execution. And then she said the name again, the one I'd heard a hundred times in my life. The connection was vague, but it was all way to suspicious for my liking. I was getting a headache from all of this shit that just wouldn't add up. I knew then that I would have to confront my father.

By the time we got back to the house everything seemed pretty normal. Isabella made breakfast and visited with her brother, like nothing was bothering her at all. I guess that was a talent of hers; hiding her emotions. My plan to talk to my father was quickly trumped, as he was never alone long enough to talk, and I didn't want to draw attention to myself, which was another in a long list of firsts for the day. So instead, I just watched her, still trying to unravel this mystery, but with no luck, so I just came up with a way to ensure that I would have the chance to try again.

While the others were all occupied doing… whatever, I slipped upstairs and into Isabella's room where I left my favorite jacket lying on her bed with a small note placed on top of it. A sneaky move on my part, but I was left no choice. And I was taking a huge chance here… I mean, that is my favorite jacket. So when I told her that I'd be seeing her soon, I wasn't lying, and I would be seeing her again, I had to, she… intrigued me.

So here I am driving back to Seattle with my father and Peter, trying to process It all. Most off the drive so far has been made in silence, as my mind has been otherwise occupied. The look on my father's face tells me he's thinking hard about something as well, but I'll never know exactly what it is unless he ever decided to tell me. I glance back at Peter in the review mirror for a quick second, wondering what he would do if he knew I was thinking about his sister. He looks depressed, like he wants nothing more than to jump out of the care and run back to Isabella, and other the reason differ between the two of us, there is a part of me that wants that exact same thing. I shake my head of the thought and force myself to think of anything else the rest of the drive back.

By the time we reach Seattle it just barely the afternoon, and although the sun has fully risen, it continues to play a game of hide and seek behind the mass of clouds that always frequent the Seattle skies. Fifteen minutes later, we're back in front of Peter's sad display of an apartment complex, which I hope he ditches as soon as my father gives him his first company check. If for nothing else than for his sex life, 'cause no woman in her right mind would want to be brought to this dump for a night, no matter how drunk she may or may not be, and in a world full of uncertainties, that is a fact.

"You've done well your first time out Peter," My father said simply as Peter prepared to exit the car, "I expect to see you at the mansion tomorrow, bright and early so that Jasper, Edward, and I can go over how the Company operates with you."

"Yes sir," Peter nods, "I'll be there."

"Very well," My father gives Peter and approving nod, as he climbs out of my car and makes his way into the complex.

I have half a mind to just start asking my father questions right then and there, but I don't know where to begin. So for the drive back to the mansion, I stay silent.

Yet once were there I can't hold the questions back any longer, I need answers, now.

"I need to speak with you." I say to my father as we both exit my car.

"Can it wait?" He asked stiffly, "We've only just got back."

"No," Is my simple reply.

"All right then," He sighs. "Let me go greet your mother first. Meet me in my office in twenty minutes."

I nod as he walks away.

"So how was the trip," Alice's voice rang across the garage, as she made her way towards me, with Jasper following close behind her. Damn, he couldn't let her out of his sight for a second.

"It was… an experience," I spoke, choosing my words carefully so to not make Alice curious. That was the last thing anyone needed.

"How did Peter do?" She questioned.

"He's still alive," I joke before speaking seriously. "He did well."

"That is good to hear." Jasper said slowly, with a small nod. The nod was a sign that Jasper was relieved. He, like me, probably still didn't fully trust Peter, for no reason other than the fact that he was a Newbie, but he trusted my word and wanted to know if there was potential there. He didn't want anyone he couldn't trust around the family or more importantly Alice.

"It is," Alice said fixing us both with an exaggerated eye roll. "I told you boys that you had nothing to worry about with Peter, didn't I?"

"Yes." We both grumbled.

"So…" She hedged. No good could come of this. "What was she like?"

"Who?" I asked, knowing full well who she meant. We hadn't been home five minutes and already Emmett's told Alice all about the trip.

"Emmett mentioned that you all stayed at Peter's sister's house last night." See, predictable.

"Yes," I confirmed. "The shipment went over and we didn't want to make the drive back."

"Uh huh," Alice breathed impatiently, already knowing that part. "But what was Bella like?"

I shrugged. "She was… a nice kid."

Alice studied me for a moment with squinted eyes as if searching for the hidden meaning of life. I swear she could be such a freak sometimes, "A nice kid huh?"

"Yeah, sure." I said, not giving anything away.

"Hmm," She hummed thoughtfully, before a mischievous smile plastered itself across her face. "Well okay then."

I studied my sister for a moment cautiously. Her expression said it all. The little elf was up to something. "Alice…"

"We should be going," Jasper said, obviously picking up on the tense situation. "Charlotte put down a heavy beating on Newton during a sparring match this morning. We should check and see if he's still breathin'."

"Yes," Alice said before she all but flew out of the garage. Jasper gave me an apologetic half smile before trailing behind her.

_Just fucking great_. The last thing I needed today was Alice plotting the next big conspiracy. Taking a heavy breath, I decided to make my way towards my father's office. I wasn't in the mood to run into anyone who would be crazy enough to make and attempt at small talk, so I stuck to the more deserted halls, which also helped kill time before I reached my father's office, and before I know I'm standing in front of the door.

Without knocking, I step into my father's office.

"Knocking Edward," My father sighed, not looking up from the paperwork that sat on his desk.

"I told you I was coming," I defended.

"Apparently manners are a commodity," He snickered, "And yes, you did, however knocking is still the polite thing to do."

"So is saying thank you," I spoke unconsciously, thinking about what Bella had said earlier on the way to the store.

"What?" My father asked with a confused, questioning look.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head once I'd realized what I'd said.

"Hmm," My father said regarding me curiously, "So… what is it you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Isabella," I say, once again, unconsciously before catching myself, "Isabella's father, I mean."

In response to Isabella's name, my father looks curious, but his face turns to stone the second I bring up her father. "I don't know why you have this recent interest in Charles Swan and his children but as I have told you before, it is not relevant."

"You also said, 'at this time'," I argue, "And I say that it is now."

"What do you mean Edward?" My father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, a habit I'd inherited from him.

"While we were still in Forks this morning," I started; pausing only momentarily to make sure he was paying attention, "Isabella had a nightmare, that's why she was awake so early…"

"The point Edward?" he asked, cutting me off, giving off a slight hint of frustration.

"The point father," I say slowly, "Is that while she was having the nightmare, she said a name, one I'm sure you're quite familiar with."

"What name?" He asked, truly curious.

"She said Didyme." I answered simply.

If I hadn't already been curious, then my father's reaction would have definitely been enough to make me really curious. I'd never seen him react in such a way. His eyes shot to mine and his jaw tensed. All my life he'd always been so good at covering his emotions, but now, I could see that he was just as thrown as I was.

"How can that be?" He seemed to ask himself as he stood from his desk and began pacing back and forth behind it, "She remembered me, but how could she possibly remember that?"

"Wait," I said trying to get his attention. "What do you mean, she remembered you, have you met her before?"

"Edward," my father warned.

"No," I argued, "Ever since Lehane stepped into this house, there have been one too many things that just aren't adding up, and I want answers… now!"

"Remember who you're speaking to Edward." My father said in a deadly calm voice.

I release a hard breath, my annoyance rising. "I haven't forgotten, but I need answers."

My father shook his head in response.

"Give me something," I asked, trying to reign in my anger. "Anything… I want to know. How can you expect me to do this job when you're keeping shit from me, obviously something important?"

My father placed his hands down on his desk and stayed silent for a few minutes before turning to me. "Edward… you need to understand that what I choose to tell you does not leave this room, and whatever I do not tell you, does not concern you. Are we clear?"

"Yes." I answer slowly.

My father sighed, pushing away from the desk, and then straightened his tie as he sat back down in his chair. "You asked me before why I hired Peter, and I told you that I did because I knew his father."

"Yes," I replied to his statement.

"That is the truth," He affirmed. "Charles Swan was, in many ways, a friend who has done more for this family than you will ever know. I owe him my life, and you owe him yours."

"What do you mean," I had never been more confused in my entire life, and I wasn't enjoying it. "Wasn't he just some small town police chief?"

"Not always," Was my father's, simple reply.

I wanted to question him further on that, and I would, but first I needed him to tell me something else, and I had this strange feeling that the two were connected. "Why would Isabella know about Didyme?"

My father shook his head slightly, "It must be a memory from before she can even remember having it. Bella is an incredibly observant young woman, apparently even as a child."

I couldn't argue against the observant part. "Same question?"

"It's all a very complicated history Edward." He breathed.

"History always is," I laughed humorously, "Hell, look at ours."

My father looked me dead in the eye, and said, "Our history and Bella's are a lot closer than you think."

I watch my father with careful, questioning eyes. "What do you mean?"

* * *

_**Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I promise the next chapter won't be so rushed. Sorry to leave you on a cliffy there, but I just couldn't help myself.**_

_**Edward will be speaking to Bella in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that.**_

_**Be sure to check out my Blog. Sometime within the next 2 or 3 days I will be posting a sneak preview of chapter 7, before I post chapter 7.**_

_**Much Luv!**_

_**Daba91**_


	8. Citizen Erased

**_Sorry about the wait but it took me a while to rewrite this chapter after my uncle crashed my house computer. For those of you who check out my blog, you know what I'm talking about and have probably already read the Sneak Peek for this chapter. I will be trying to get the Sneak Peek for Chapter 8 posted on there within the next few days, so be sure to be on the lookout for that._**

**_For those of you who haven't gotten a chance to check out my Blog, the link is on my fanfic profile page. I put all my announcements on there._**

**_Enjoy!_**

**_The Song for this Chapter is: Citizen Erased by Muse_**

**_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended_**

* * *

CH.7

_**Edward's P.O.V.**_

Citizen Erased

_My father looked me dead in the eye, and said, "Our history and Bella's are a lot closer than you think."_

_I watch my father with careful, questioning eyes. "What do you mean?"_

#######

I slowly make my way out of my father's office, closing the door behind me. My mind is racing with the words; big words, little words, meaningful words, inconsequential words, but still just so many words that alone mean nothing, but together, carry some heavy truths. How could I have never known? How could this have stayed a secret for so long? For so long I've thought that I had the whole world figured out, but damn if life just hadn't thrown me a curveball. How the fuck was I supposed to make sense of the knowledge that my father just dropped on me like a two ton brick. When I'd asked for the truth, I never thought that this shit could possibly run this deep. He'd said that it was a complicated history… big fucking understatement. This was some soap opera shit, and it was giving me one massive headache. Damn I need a drink, and I fully intend on getting one, but first, there's some shit that I need to take care of.

I thought that once my father had told me what I needed to know that I would just get my answers and move on with my life, but all its done has made me want to know more, and even tthough my father told me that anything he told me needed to stay between us, I just can't leave it alone. It's not in my nature to just let shit go. It may seem a little underhanded of me, or not given all the shit I've done in my time, but I have to get to the bottom of this. I have to know more. And that is when I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I turn and make my way down the hall with a strong sense of purpose. I must have looked frightening as hell too, given the way some of the people I'd passed along the way seemed to either jump out of the way or just turn and run in the other direction. After nearly flying down the stairs, I made my way past the dining hall and kitchen and towards the tech room, which is also called the nerd den or bat cave depending on who you ask. Whatever its name, I'm here for one reason. I push through the door, and instantly find who it is I've come to see.

"Yorkie," I bark out. This is business; I didn't come here to chat, so I don't have to be nice.

Eric Yorkie is an entertaining character. He was probably about sixteen when my father brought him here to live and work for him. He was apparently some sort of genius who'd been living on the streets but was in no way starving or destitute. He could walk right up to an ATM, fiddle around with a few buttons and leave with enough cash to keep him from becoming truly homeless. He also had a keen ability to make gadgets and hack highly impenetrable computer systems, which he did for fun. So when word got around about him from a few people who worked for my father, he went out and made him an offer he couldn't and didn't refuse. That same night my father brought him home and he became a part of our 'family'. I can't really say that I like the guy, not for any particular reason, it's just that he's always been too damn happy for my liking. He's always smiling, and to his credit, never takes offense to my attitude towards him. I'm not even sure it truly fazes him.

"What's up boss man?" He smiles brightly, leaning back in his specially designed desk chair. I can't really say what it is that makes it special, it's just what he told me and I've never asked for him to explain. But given the way this guy likes to tinker away at shit, it probably has a jet-pack attached to it.

"I need you to do something for me." I say simply.

"No problemo' boss man," He answers animatedly leaning toward his desk that was overwhelmed with computer screens, and two keyboards. "What can I do for ya?"

I breathe in, trying to reign in my temper. I just don't do happy people. "I need you find everything you can about Charles Swan, he's…"

"The newbie's father," Eric finished for me and continued before I could question him. "Jasper came in yesterday wanting to do a background check on him and I recognized his father's name. Good thing too, 'cause so far Garret, Rosalie, and Charlotte, have all come in to make sure I've done a background check and I don't even have to pull up his file anymore. No point in worrying though, the guys squeaky clean. You know, I'm actually surprised it took you this long to check for yourself…"

"Eric!" I gritted out, stopping his rant. "I'm not here for Peter's file. I'm here for whatever you can find on his father."

"Um, okay," He said slowly, "But, uh, you do know that he's dead right. I mean that I know he was a cop and all, but I don't think he's much of a threat now."

"I'm well aware of that Eric," I say in a dangerous tone. "But I would still appreciate that you do as I ask."

"Yes sir." He answers with a small salute.

"Good and I would appreciate if this stays between the two of us." I laugh internally at how much of a dick I truly am. I mean, my father told me to keep what he told me between us and I'm already about to break that trust, yet here I am asking Eric to do the same thing. Well… we can't all be saints. But then again, why bother. Some of us need to be bad. It keeps the natural balance in order.

"No worries boss man," He chuckles. "I understand the importance of secrecy and you have my word that these lips are sealed."

"Okay then," I say as I tune to leave. "Just make sure to get that information to me as soon as you get it."

"Gotcha," He called out as I exited through the door.

Now for the next order of business, I reach into my right pocket and pull out my phone. I hit 5 on the speed dial and lift the phone to my ear. It rings once, twice…

"Sup' Cullen," Garret's voice floats through the phone. "You lookin' to get your ass kicked again?"

"No, but I will kick yours if you aren't in the garage in five minutes," I respond in an all business tone. "I'm headed out for a drink, and you're coming with me."

"Not a problem," He assures me. "I'll just let Kate know I'm heading out and then I'll be there."

"Good." I hang up and slip the phone back into my pocket, then I begin to make my way towards the garage. By the time I do, Garret is already there leaned up against my car.

"So… Rick's?" He asks throwing out the name of the bar we frequent often.

"Absofuckinlutely," I breathe climbing into the drivers' seat as he slips into the passenger. I turn the key and the engine comes to life with a soft _vroom. _I shift the gear into drive and fly out of the garage.

It's not even twenty minutes later when Garret and I find ourselves posted up at the bar and well into our second drinks.

"Wow… that's… wow," He says through his drink. I knew that if there was anyone with whom I could share this information with it was Garret. I also needed his help if I was going to make my plan work. But it seems like he was taking it just as well as I was. "That's some heavy knowledge man. Your life just got a whole lot more complicated."

I snickered at that. "Thanks for being the master of stating the fucking obvious."

Garret shakes his, head, more from the thoughts than what I'd said. Garret knows the score and doesn't take shit personal. That's one of the reasons why I trust his ass.

"What do you need me to do?" He asks, just like that. That's another reason why I trust him. He doesn't waste time, and is always straight to the point. I'm glad too, 'cause I'm about to ask him for a whole lot.

I turn to face him and prepare to tell him exactly what needs to be done.

############

The next morning after I've already showered and dressed for the day, this strange feeling washes over me. I feel like some major change is coming. I just haven't figured out whether or not that's a bad thing or a good thing. Probably bad, most things in my life are.

I picked up my watch from my nightstand and latched it around my wrist. While doing so my eyes shifted back and forth through the papers that were strewn across my bed. This wasn't the file on Charles Swan. These were documents that detailed my family's dealings since before my father was born. Every major event that had ever happened was in these documents, which I may or may not have stolen from my father's office. I was one of the few people who even new about them. I figured that if what my father had told me was true and nothing had been omitted from these documents, then Charles Swans name should appear in them somewhere at least once.

I'd spent half of the night after I'd gotten back from Rick's going through them. Names… so many names, my father's, mine, my grandfather's, Aro's, the rest of the Volturi's, even Eleazer's. All names I was familiar with and had either seen or heard a thousand times over. Even Didyme was in there. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find Charles's name. Not until this morning that is. These documents backed up everything my father had told me but still left so many of my questions unanswered. Fortunately, I'd already set my plan in action and Garret was on board. Now it was just a matter of time. It was all up to Isabella now.

A quick tapping on my door alerted me to the fact that someone was there, and before I could ask who it was, my sister made her way into my bedroom.

"Hello Alice," I greet stiffly, as I began gathering up the documents in an attempt to keep her from figuring out what they were. "So glad you know how to knock. Now we just have to teach you how to wait to be invited in."

"Lesson for another day," She said as she plopped herself down at the end of my bed and gave a slight nod to the stack of files in my hands. "What are those?"

"Nothing."

She narrows her eyes suspiciously, "Uh huh."

"Was there something you wanted?" I made my way over to my desk and pulled open the bottom drawer on the right side. I placed the files into the drawer before closing it and locking it. I'd put them back in the safe in my father's office later.

"Just checking to see if you were ready," She smiled. "Peter just arrived a few minutes ago and Dad and Jasper are downstairs waiting with him."

"Well then," I say while gently pushing her out of the room with me. Once we were in the hall I closed my door behind me and locked that too, before turning back to Alice and giving her a tight smile. "Let's not keep them waiting."

Alice glanced quickly at the door and then turned her attention onto me. "You seem tense dear brother."

"You know I hate to be late." I lied.

"Right," She doesn't buy it, "Well then, I hope your day is productive and that you don't… I don't know, kill Peter."

I snicker at that, "I think the only people you should be concerned about in that area are Rosalie, Charlotte, and Jasper."

"Jasper won't kill him," She smirked, "He knows that I would be very put out with him if he did."

"Right well, we'll see about that one." I say that last bit over my shoulder as I had already turned to make my way down the hall.

I take the quickest route to main entrance where I find my father, Jasper, and Peter waiting.

"Hello Edward," Peter says in greeting.

I nod, "Peter."

"Let's head out shall we?" My father says in a questioning tone, but his words are all demand.

"Yes, there's a lot we have to go over today." Jasper spoke in his usual quiet and drawn out voice.

We all start for the door but are stopped by Charlotte.

"Edward!" She calls out as she slowly makes her way towards me. I'm about ready to ask her what it is she wants but then I see a file in her hand and immediately know. She holds it out to me. "Glad I caught you before you left. I was down in Yorkie's bat cave looking to pick up my 'new and improved laptop' whatever the hell that means, freak probably put in some state of the art voice and retina scanner just so I can access my picture folder. Anyway, he asked for me to deliver this to you."

"Well," I huff as I take the folder from her hand. I was going to kill Yorkie for this later. Sure I trusted Charlotte not to go through it but I had specifically asked for a little discretion. "Thank you."

"So what is it anyway?" She asked, "We got a job I haven't been told about. 'Cause as an active liaison for this family, I appreciate being put in the loop."

I give her an assuring smile. "I assure you Charlotte, there is no new job."

"So what is it son?" My father asked and something about the way he'd said it told me he already had a pretty good idea.

"Nothing important," You see the problem with lying is this. You can be the best damn liar in the world but when surrounded by other incredible liars, the affect lessens and your lies are a bit less convincing. I take a quick glance at my father who looks nothing short of pissed, I then divert my attention over to Jasper who looks like he's trying to figure me out, and Peter… is he staring at Charlotte?

"You got a problem pretty boy?" She asks in a mildly threatening voice. I guess he was staring at her.

"No," He replies quickly, shaking his head.

"Good." She grins but her eyes hold nothing but warning.

"Well Charlotte," I start, needing to get out of this situation. "We got to go to the company and show this guy the ropes."

"Oh?" She takes a quick look at Peter. "Well then I'll probably see you there in a short while. I was just trying to take care of a few things here first."

I give her a slight nod as my response and then do my best to avoid my father's glare as we all make our way out front to where two cars are waiting for us. Most days I'd just drive my car but sometimes it's just more convenient to have a driver shuttle us around.

"I'll ride with Peter," I say quickly, knowing my father what argue with me about it with Peter there.

My father huffed in response and as I'd predicted he didn't argue with me but he did get close enough to whisper a sharp warning. "Leave it Edward."

I give him my best half smile and say, "Sorry dad, but you know me."

"I'm not asking." He said. His voice was deadly.

"Neither am I." I say, matching his tone. We stare each other down and so many silent messages are conveyed in that singular moment. He knew I wasn't letting this go, but neither was he. He knew that there was nothing he could say to stop me, but he had every intention of doing so. He knew that I was tough, but still respected him enough to fear him. He planned to have it out with me later, but didn't know that I wasn't going to be here.

He takes a step back and the moment passes. I had more respect for my father than anyone else in the world, but I refused to sit in the dark of all the things I didn't understand. If the price to pay for learning the truth was receiving what will be the most severe beating of my life at the hands of my father then so be it. I release a short breath and the climb into the car along with Peter. I don't even watch as my father makes his way to the other car with Jasper. The driver asks us if we're all set and ready to go and I tell him yes. He starts up the car, puts the car into gear and heads down the driveway and through the main gate.

The drive isn't really a long one, but I decide to kill some time by discretely asking Peter a few questions about his life.

"So Peter," I start, gaining his attention. "Since we will be working together and you, as you've proven so far, aren't going anywhere anytime soon, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself."

"You mean you haven't read through my file a hundred times already?" He laughed.

I shrugged lightly, "There's only so much one can learn from words written down on paper. None of it tells me who you are as a person."

"I guess that makes sense," He spoke thoughtfully. "So what do you want to know?"

"I don't know," I lied. "Tell me about your family."

He shook his head a little, "Not much to tell."

"So then there shouldn't be any problem telling it then."

He huffed at that, "Uh, where to start. I don't know, I have no memory of my birth father, my mother met my _dad_ Charlie when I was two and they later married and had Bella, which at the time was really cool 'cause I'd asked for her for Christmas…"

"Wait what?" I asked confused.

Peter laughed. "I didn't specifically ask for Bella obviously, I just asked mom and dad for a little sister for Christmas. I didn't want a little brother at the time because I was admittedly a bit selfish and wanted to be the only one to play football and baseball with my dad. I figured that with a little sister, I could still play with her but she would only do girly stuff with my mother. That didn't quite work out the way I'd planned though since Bells was always a bit of a tom boy, but it didn't matter by then because the two of us were inseparable."

"So you're close?" Of course I already knew the answer to that but I wanted to keep him on track.

"Yeah," He smiled, "I'm closer to her than anyone else in the world. The only other person I was ever even remotely that close with was my dad. I mean don't get me wrong, I did love my mother but I don't know… I always knew that Charlie wasn't my biological father, he never lied to me about that but it didn't matter to us any other way. If anything it just made us that much closer, I mean, he chose to be my father and right up until the day he was killed he never failed at it. He was always there for me and Bells, he taught me to be a man, be a good person, and even though I don't have kids of my own, if I'm even half the man he was I know I'll be a good father."

"Sounds like a good man," I say quietly, not knowing what else to say, but knowing that truer words were never spoken. Peter knew his father was a good man, but he didn't know the half it. He didn't know what I knew and if he did, I imagine it would only make him love his father more.

"People say that there is no bond thicker than blood," He laughed harshly, "But that's bullshit. In this life, choice is the only thing that matters. Charlie may not have been my blood, but I was born to be his son. There is no other person on this planet who I would have chosen to be my father."

His words hit me like a bulldozer. In that moment, I envied him more than I'd ever envied another person in my entire life. Here I am listening to a man I barely know speaking about his father with so much emotion that he almost looks ready to break down and cry and I can't even look down on him for it. I know nothing about love, what it is, what it feels like, but I've seen it in other people and as I listened to Peter speak I swear I could hear it.

I'm too fucked up to even love my own family who I do care for but just can't offer anything more than that. I always thought that was what made me stronger but listening to Peter makes me wonder if I'm the weak one. He speaks about his father and Isabella with so much emotion that one could almost feel his bond with them, even now after his father is long gone. I used to see that as weak, but now, I'm not so sure anymore.

"So it must have helped to have him," I say, trying to keep the conversation going, "After your mother left."

"Yeah, it did I guess," He breathed, "Well that and Bella."

"How did she handle your mother leaving?"

Peter shrugged, "She blamed herself for a little while until dad finally got it through to her that it wasn't her fault, but she was just a kid, she didn't fully understand. Having dad helped her too, especially years later when I left to college and ended up staying in New York permanently. He was always there for her, just like he promised, but some things are just out of our control. So right now, Bells is all that I've got. That girl means more to me than I can even say and I'll never leave her again."

"Moving away hardly counts as leaving." I defended, not really knowing why.

"Eight hours, twenty-three minutes." He said faintly.

"What?" I asked.

"Eight hours, twenty-three minutes," he repeated a bit louder, "That's how long it took me to get here after she called me to tell me our father was dead. She had to identify him. She had to see him lying on a slab, cold and lifeless and she had to do it all on her own."

I shook my head of the image his words had put into my head. For some reason, I didn't want to think about what that must have been like for her.

Peter turned to look out the car window, "When I finally got to the police station I'd thought I'd lost her too. She looked so broken, nothing like herself. It took a long time to get her to smile again and even longer to get her to laugh, but one day she was herself again, just a bit older, if that makes any sense.

I was getting ready to respond. I'm not even sure of what I was going to say but I was going to say it before the car came to a stop out front of the office. I looked out the window to see the car my father and Jasper had driven in come to a stop in front of us. I looked back to Peter to see him giving me a look that pleaded with me to keep our conversation private. I figured that I'd broken enough people's confidences in my time, that I may have owed it to Peter. Or maybe I just owed it to his father. I nod to him and we both climb out of the car.

"Peter," I say over the car as he is standing on the other side. "It's going to take a while for everyone else to warm up to you but just know that we're cool."

"Yeah?" he asked looking a bit shocked yet relieved.

"Yeah," I confirmed, "don't think this means we're gonna be pals or nuthin' and I sure as hell won't be coming over to your apartment to watch Sunday night Football 'cause let's face it, your apartment looks like shit. However, I won't shoot you for coming by and watching a game at the mansion."

Peter laughed and nodded, "Okay, that's good to know."

I nod and close the car door. We make our way to the main entrance along with Jasper and my father and then head inside. Once we all reached the elevators and stepped into the first available, my father spoke.

"On the way here I got a call from Phil up on the tenth floor and it appears that there is a matter that requires my attention," He spoke quickly, "So I'm afraid I will not be around for the tour, but I believe you all can manage without me."

"Yes sir," Jasper and I spoke at the same time.

The elevator dinged once it reached the tenth floor and as soon as the doors slid open my father stepped out. A second later they close again and we made our way up a few more floors.

From there the tour began. It took us a little bit over an hour or so. Jasper and I showed Peter the ins and outs of where everything was located and how everything worked. His eyes shot out like some shit you'd see on _Ripley's Believe it or Not_, when we'd showed him his office and told him her had his own assistant and secretary. There had only been a few things left to show him after that but Jasper's assistant came to alert him to the fact there was an important call on hold in his office. Poor kid too, he was jumpy as shit. That was actually part of the reason why Jasper had a male assistant. Charlotte hoped that a male assistant would be less intimidated by Jasper's lethal presence but I tried to explain to her that he just had that affect on everybody.

Jasper excuses himself from us and heads towards his office. Peter then turns to me and asks, "Is everybody always so jumpy around him?"

"Just about," I laugh.

"Why," He asks as if the question makes sense. "He seems pretty cool."

"If you stay on his good side," I shrugged but felt my phone vibrating inside my coat pocket. I reached inside to pull it out and a strange feeling came over me when I saw the area code. It was Isabella calling.

I knew that I couldn't answer the phone with Peter standing right there but fortunately, as I was getting ready to excuse myself to my office, the elevator dinged and Charlotte stepped out.

"Charlotte," I called, "There's a small matter that needs my immediate attention, could you please finish giving Peter a look around the office?"

"Alright," She sighed and looked over at Peter who was once again staring. He was going to have his work cut out for him if he decided to try pursuing any type of relationship with that one.

As I make my way into my office, I hear Charlotte say, "Those eyes better stay above my jaw line or else I will personally rip them out."

I laugh as I closed the door and speedily answered the phone just before Isabella decided to hang up.

"Edward Cullen." I answer with a smirk, even if she couldn't see it.

"Um, hello Edward this is Bella." Her soft voice quietly drifted through the receiver.

"Ms. Swan, well isn't this a nice surprise," I lie, knowing full well that she would call. I was just a little frustrated it had taken her so long.

"Yeah" She laughed nervously.

"However did you get my number?" I ask, once again, already knowing the answer. "Did you look me up?"

"Actually," She bit out, all nervousness gone from her tone. "I got it from the inside of your jacket, you know, the one you left at my house."

"Oh, did I now?" I ask inn a thoughtful tone. "I was wondering where I'd left that."

I could hear her snicker at the other end of the line. "You don't seem like the type of man that forgets things Mr. Cullen."

"We all have our moments Ms. Swan. Especially while in the company of one such as yourself whose mere presence is quite… distracting," I say in a low tone, "And it's Edward."

"Look Edward," She says, avoiding the first half of what I'd said. "I was just calling to let you know that I have it and that I was actually thinking about visiting with Peter this upcoming weekend, so I could leave it with him to give to you."

Yeah, that wasn't going to work. "Actually Ms. Swan, I was planning on heading out that way for business anyway tonight, so I could always just swoop by and pick it up while I'm already in the area."

"Uh," There's a long pause on the other end of the line before she says, "Okay."

"Great," I smile. I do love it when I get my way. "Well then, I'll be seeing you later tonight Ms. Swan."

I snap the phone shut, not wanting to give her the opportunity to come up with some excuse as to why I couldn't go to her home tonight. That just wouldn't do. However, now that the plan was officially set in motion, there was one call that had to be made. Flipping open my phone, I hit 5 on the speed dial. It rings once, twice…

"Is it time?" Garret asks from the other end of the line.

"It's time." I confirm.

"Okay," he says, "Oh and Edward."

"Yes?"

"Kate's in." He says quickly.

"Good." I say as I hang up. Taking a deep breath, I exit my office and make my way towards the elevator. As I do, I call out to my secretary. "Nettie, I'll be out of town for a few days taking care of business, so make sure to forward all of my calls to either Jasper, Charlotte or the new guy."

The last thing that I see before the elevator doors close is her nod her head in confirmation.

######################

Once, back at the house, I push through my bedroom door and head straight for my closet. In there I have two bags. One of which I use to pack clothing, and the other is loaded with guns. One must always be prepared, right? The difference between the two bags is that the only one that stays packed is the gun bag. The clothing bag is empty. So I have to pack that one, but fortunately I'm already in my closet. I pack a few pairs of jeans, boxers, and some sweats, as well as two pairs of dress pants and a pair of dress shoes, in addition to my sneakers, since this is a 'business' trip. Although my business will be a bit different than what Garret will tell my family it is, I still intend to dress nicely. I also pack a few T-shirts, some button ups, two sweaters, and my second favorite jacket. It wasn't as nice as my first favorite, but hey, sacrifice.

Once that's all packed, I enter the bathroom, and grab all of the essentials, leaving only a few more things to pack, such as my phone charger, my laptop, my favorite knife, and the file I'd had Yorkie put together on Charles Swan.

The problem was that after I'd gotten my phone charger, laptop, and knife packed, I found the lock on my desk open and the file missing. I could feel the anger and frustration wash over me, as I knew that there was only one person in this house who'd be crazy enough to go through my things.

"Alice." I bit as I slowly turned around to find my sister sitting cross legged on my bed across the room with the file lying in front of her, open.

"Damn it Alice!" I growl as I make my way across the room. I snatch up the file and shove it into a side compartment of my bag. "Why the fuck can't you ever just mind your own damn business?"

Alice doesn't even flinch. She's not afraid of me; she has no reason to be. She just waits for me to finish and then speaks.

"Charles Swan wasn't mugged was he?" She asked simply, as if she were asking me to pass the salt at the dinner table. I ignore her question by not responding and she continues, but that's the thing about my sister. She doesn't need you to speak to have a conversation with you. "Do you actually think that Peter and his sister are in danger?"

I fix her with a hard glare, and she sighs, before saying. "I'll cover for you."

"Garret already is," I shake my head, and make my way towards the door with both bags slung over my shoulder. I truly do care about my sister, and appreciate that she's willing to help blindly, but damn if she needs to learn to mind her own business. I stop in the doorway and turn to face her. "Lock up when you leave Oh, and Alice… this stays between us."

Alice smiles brightly. "Oh dear brother, no one can keep a secret like I can."

I nod, knowing full well the truth of her words. I prepare to leave, but before I can, she calls out.

"Oh and Edward," I suck in a breath, and turn to face her.

"Yes Alice?"

She smirks, "I'd really like to meet her sometime."

If looks could kill, my sister would have been a corpse in that moment. I knew who she was talking about but gave no response as I turned and made my way down the hall. That's Alice for ya'. Always up to something.

As I make my way to the garage I, once again, use the deserted halls as to avoid running into anyone who might want to talk or ask questions as I am lugging around two packed bags. It's really only minutes though, before I've reached the garage and loaded them both in. Then once again, I find myself back on the road and headed in the same direction I'd been heading in two days before. Only this time, Neah Bay isn't my destination, Forks is.

Though really it isn't Forks that I'm headed to it's her. _Isabella_. After everything my father had told me, I need to make sense of it all. I need to know what it all means, and the only way I can do that is through Isabella. There was still so much I didn't know, so many unanswered questions, and I have this feeling that she is the key. The answers are there, locked deep somewhere inside that steel box of a mind that holds more mysteries than should be possible. And I fully intend to learn every last one of them.

I've only driven about two and a half hours before I reach Forks, and by the time I do it's already dark out. There's a feeling I can't explain, something foreign. The second I reached the town limits I've felt, anxious, and expectant. I knew I was getting closer to her and my thoughts were going wild. I also felt this strange pull, like a magnet was guiding me to exactly where I needed to go. Damn I must have been driving longer than I'd thought. I'm becoming fucking delirious.

Shaking my head, as if trying to force out my thoughts, I continue on down the road that lead to Isabella's home. I was just seconds away from being with her again. I mean, so that I can get the answers that I need, of course. This time, however would be different. This time it would just be us. I could work on getting the answers I need without worrying about anyone becoming suspicious. I could also work on getting inside that mind of hers.

Of course, all of these thoughts disappear as quickly as they came once I pull in front of her house. The lights are on and nothing looks particularly out of place from what I can see. Her truck is parked out front, just as it was yesterday morning. However there was one major thing that was out of place, which unsettled me and created this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my gut. Parked in front of me was a Police cruiser. Forks finest was at Isabella's home.

"What the fuck?"

* * *

_**Okay… don't hurt me. There is method to my madness. I know that at the end of the last chapter, I really set you all up for a big reveal. So you probably feel pretty cheated with the lack of reveal in this chapter but if I gave all the secrets away this early into the story then there wouldn't be much else left to write. Mystery can be frustrating but it builds intrigue, I hope, "Laughs" and there are a lot of secrets that will b revealed later and some pretty insane plot twists in the works.**_

_**Remember to check out my Blog.**_

_**Thank You So Much For Reading! Drop A Review And Let Me Know Your Thoughts.**_

_**Much Luv.**_

_**Daba91**_


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